Harriet Potter- The Marauders' Heir
by animerocker646
Summary: What if Harry Potter had been born Harriet Potter? What if Sirius raised her instead of her aunt and uncle? How would this effect the wizarding world? Rated T and Fem!Harry
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to the first chapter of the Harriet Potter series. I will explain how often I update and more at the end. Enjoy the chapter! =)**

**Chapter 1**

**Rescued**

A young man approached the ruins of the wrecked house of his best mate and was consumed with sorrow, that was, before the rage of betrayal filled his mind. How could they have not noticed that Peter was the traitor? Why had they suspected Remus? Different ideas on how to get revenge on the rat that got his best friend, James Potter, his lovely wife Lily, and his goddaughter Harriet killed. He was about to around and chase after Peter, but suddenly he heard a very familiar cry.

Sirius Black literally dove into the rubble to find the source of the noise, hoping with all his heart he wasn't imagining things. He moved rubble out of the way and finally found a little, squirming pink bundle that was alive and breathing. The first thing he did was check her for injuries, he didn't find any except a lighting bold shaped scar on her forehead.

"Padfoo!" the child gurgled happily. The poor thing had been alone for hours and finally there was a face she recognized. Suddenly, there was a crack and Sirius turned around to see Hagrid standing there.

"Sirius! Oh, I hoped it wasn't true. Lily 'nd James…give little Harriet to me. Dumbledore wants me to take 'er to 'er Aunt 'nd Uncle's," Hagrid bellowed making the little bundle in Sirius' arms whimper.

Sirius was just about to hand her over when he heard a little voice in his head, that sounded a lot like James shout, 'if something happens to me and Lily and you leave my daughter alone, so help me Padfoot, I will haunt you for the rest of your life.'

He looked down at his goddaughter again and couldn't bring himself to give her up. She looked too much like her parents. He couldn't let them down again and he definitely wasn't letting her live with her Aunt and Uncle. Petunia was a nightmare on a good day and her whale of a husband was worse. "Hagrid, I'm going to Dumbledore myself, if Harriet lives with her Aunt and Uncle she'll be abused to no end," Sirius replied as he got on his bike and rode off to Hogwarts where he knew he'd find Albus Dumbledore.

Harriet dozed off and fell asleep as they approached the castle and Sirius smiled at the sight. He was going to raise her with Mooney and teach her all there was to know about being a Marauder.

About fifteen minutes later he walked into Dumbledore's office. The elderly headmaster was there and when he saw Sirius he gave the young man a sad smile. "I thought you would be chasing after Peter Pettigrew. Why didn't you give Ms. Potter to Hagrid? She would be safest with her only remaining family…" Dumbledore asked trying to make sense of Sirius' actions.

"You think she would be safe with her Aunt and Uncle? They'll abuse her…after all the stories I've heard from Lily, I can't leave me goddaughter with them. I'm the closest thing to family she has, not her racist sister," Sirius nearly shouted, but stopped himself when Harriet moved in his arms.

From all the times he watched her he knew that Harriet was going to want to be fed soon. He had some of her bottles and baby food back at his house, but he was a little bit too far away for that at the moment.

Suddenly, Remus came bursting into the room with his wand raised. "Sirius, how could you! Dumbledore, call the ministry! He killed Lily and James!" Remus shouted and Harriet began to cry,

"Remus, she was so quiet…I wasn't the secret keeper, Peter was. I thought it was the perfect reuse, but he was the traitor, so I guess I technically did get them killed," Sirius whispered hoarsely as he rocked his goddaughter to calm her down.

"Padfoo, sad?" a little voice said from his arms.

"Yes, Padfoot is very sad, but I promise I will take of you," Sirius replied knowing that even though the little girl couldn't understand everything he said, he hoped she got the message.

"We need to find Peter. I'll alert the Aurors. I'm guessing you're taking Harriet to your flat…I'll see you there when this mess is cleaned up," the werewolf told his friend as he ran out of the room.

"If you are insistent on raising Harriet Potter you will have to give her the most muggle life possible. I don't want her to grow up famous it will be too much for her to handle. Tell her what happened to her parents slowly and in a few years the Ministry will see if you or her Aunt will be fit to raise her," Dumbledore informed the young man before him. Sirius rolled his eyes, he just didn't want Harriet to have a big head like her father did.

Within the next few years Harriet grew up in a muggle neighborhood and in a good muggle school, where she got top marks. Remus was delighted that Harriet liked to learn like her mother, but Sirius nearly cried, he didn't need another bookworm! He thought he raised her better. When her godfather and uncle figured she was old enough they told how her parents' died and what her scar meant. The two remaining marauders raised a modest and intelligent child, but when she turned ten Dumbledore sent an owl to Sirius telling him that Harriet was going to meet with her Aunt and Uncle to see if they were better suited to raise her.

"Why are we going again?" Harriet asked as she fastened her favorite boots on over a pair of black jeans, all complimented with a dark purple shirt. The young girl had flowing jet black hair that reached her mid-back, she wore black framed glasses that made her green eyes pop.

"The ministry doesn't think it's appropriate for me to take care of you, so they want to see if your Aunt and Uncle would be better suited for the job," Sirius replied. Since his time at Hogwarts he had cut his hair and it was a little bit shorter, he was still a looker, but no longer a playboy since he had a child living in the house with him.

Harriet couldn't believe that the ministry thought Sirius couldn't take care of her…he had been doing a rather good job of it. She felt that she should get a say in where she was going to live that next seven years of her life.

"That's stupid, but let's go…my Aunt said she wanted us there at noon. I don't want to know what she'll do if we're late," Harriet said opening the door to the street.

Her godfather extended his arm and she took as she apperated to Petunia's street, the invite said number four Privet Drive. The two made their way to the house and arrived at twelve on the dot. Harriet was about to knock on the door when it flew open and middle aged woman with a horse like face urged them to come in with a strained smile. "Welcome to the Dursley house. I'm glad that you showed up," she greeted them coldly, as she looked over their choice and clothing and glared. They couldn't have dressed more formally?

"Thank you for having us. You have a lovely house," Harriet replied kindly. She wasn't lying the house was nice, just boring. Only basic photos adorned the walls and the place was spotless. The one thing that Harriet noticed was that they seemed to like to display their wealth for others to see since every piece of fine china was out.

"Of course it is. Come this way, lunch is getting cold," Petunia ordered pushing them into the dining room where Vernon and Dudley sat appearing petrified.

Sirius and Harriet glanced at each other worriedly, but shrugged it off and sat opposite of the two very large males (whales) in front of them. When they sat down they noticed that the portions for the meal had already been served and their portions were substantially smaller. Petunia watched them, waiting for the guests to challenge her.

Harriet rolled her eyes, her godfather had warned her about this and had been expecting something like this to happen. She just picked up a fork and began eating, pretending not to notice the annoyed look her Aunt gave her.

Throughout the entire lunch no one noticed a cat watching from the windowsill. This cat was observing the interaction between the two parties closely, waiting for one to fail.

It wasn't until after lunch that things went wrong. Harriet had tried to introduce herself to her cousin. The young girl walked around a table and was about to extend her hand for a hand shake when she was tripped. She went crashing onto the floor and her glasses went flying off. Her cousin promptly stepped on them and crushed them. He made it look like an accident, but Harriet knew better. She picked up the fragments of her glasses as Sirius came running in to make sure his goddaughter was okay.

"I'll fix those later. Why don't you give me the broken glass, we don't need you cutting yourself," Sirius told her and took the broken shards away from her. He then dug into his coat pocket and found a spare pair of glasses that he kept for times like these. The cat in the window saw the whole thing, even the part that the two magical folk missed, when Vernon gave his son money for what he did to his cousin.

Several more 'accidents' occurred that afternoon, all involving young Harriet Potter. She had been shoved, punched, pinched, and overall just treated plane cruelly by her Aunt and her family. By three Sirius had enough.

"Harriet, I think it's time we go. I have to fix your glasses and mend the cut on your knee," he told her ushering the girl out, not before whipping out his wand and casting a small spell on Dudley, he gave him a pig's tail.

When they got to the end of the street and made sure that no one was looking he mended her knee and fixed her glasses with two quick spells. "They don't like me all that much, do they?" Harriet asked as she slid her previously crushed glasses back on.

"I was expecting something bad, but I didn't think they'd be that horrible to you. I'm sorry, Bambi," Sirius apologized hugging the poor girl, calling her by the nickname her father gave her when she was young. James had figured that since he was a stag and Lily's patronus was a doe, Harriet's nickname should be Bambi, since she's his baby deer. Sirius and Remus continued calling her by the nickname.

"Well, let's head home. Remus is going to have a fit when we tell him what happened," she said pulling away from her godfather.

Suddenly, a cat approached the two, listening in on what they were talking about. "I just hope that the Ministry lets you continuing living with me," The older man told his goddaughter as got ready to apperate back to his flat, but before either could move the cat transformed into a stern looking woman.

"Minnie!" Sirius shouted running over to his old professor and giving her a hug. Harriet held back a giggle by putting her hand over her mouth.

"Mr. Black, let go of me. I'm here to tell Ms. Potter who she'll be living with during her Hogwarts years," Minnie, or as she preferred everyone else to call her, Professor McGonagall, ordered with a scowl.

Sirius let her go immediately and waited for the verdict, he had only ever been this nervous once, and that was when he told Harriet how her parents died. "Ms. Potter, you will be living with your godfather. There is no way that I'm letting you stay with your Aunt and Uncle. I'll see you in September during the sorting," she said before disappearing with a loud crack.

The two people remaining looked at each other before jumping up and down excitedly. "Bambi, we're going home to celebrate! Remus is going to be so happy he might forget to ask how lunch went!" Sirius told her before they went back home.

**Hello! I've been meaning to write this for a long time. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. If anyone has read any of my other stories, I update weekly and usually on the dot. The only time I would be late updating is if school get crazy and even then, it will only be a few days late and I usually give a longer chapter if that happens.**

**Alright, enough about my updating. Please REVIEW! It inspires me to write more quickly and more efficiently! If anyone has anything they want to see please feel free to leave it in a review or PM me.**

**I hope to see you all next week.**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter...duh =)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello! It's been a long week, hasn't it? I hope you all enjoy the chapter! I might post something on Tuesday and Friday next week. That's only because I'm on break and have extra time to write! See you at the bottom!**

**Chapter 2**

**Diagon Alley**

A few months had passed since Harriet had seen her Aunt and Uncle without trouble. Sirius was still taking care of her with the help of Remus. Today was a very important day for Harriet Potter because it was her eleventh birthday. Sirius, being the good godfather that he was, decided to wake his goddaughter up early on her momentous eleventh birthday. Her present, besides a few small things, was her first trip to Diagon Alley. Sirius, as Padfoot, ran into the room and hopped onto Harriet's bed. He barked, yipped and jumped till the preteen woke up.

"Padfoot, what are you doing?" she groaned whacking him with a pillow. Padfoot fell off the bed with a thump and turned back into Sirius.

"When you're allowed on the Quidditch team I think you should try out for a beater position," he grumbled rubbing his head.

The young girl groped around for her glasses on the nightstand next to her bed and put them on. She blinked a few times letting her eyes adjust before laughing hysterically. "Sorry, you know better than to wake me up like that. Now, I'm going to get dressed. I'll see you in a few minutes," Harriet told him before pushing him out of the room.

She grabbed her clothes, a black shirt with a red flower design and a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, and ran into the bathroom across the hall from her room. She washed her face and brushed her hair and put it into a braid that reached her lower back, letting her bangs cover her scar. She placed her black rimmed glasses back on her face and looked into the mirror. She sighed, apparently she looked just like her father, but with her mother's eyes. She gathered she was going to hear it more when she entered the wizarding world and met people who knew her parents.

"Bambi, hurry up! Remus is going to be waiting for us!" Sirius whined from downstairs. Harriet let out a snort, Remus wasn't expecting them for another hour in Diagon Alley. Her godfather was such a child at heart.

"I'm coming, Padfoot!" She shouted as she ran down the stairs. Sirius was at the foot of the stairs holding out a small wrapped present.

"Happy birthday! This is something your father was planning on giving you on your eleventh birthday," he told her and placed it in her hand.

Harriet looked at the small parcel and opened it quickly. It was a cloak made of very silky material. "This is the invisibility cloak you've told me about," she whispered quietly.

"Now you can get into all sorts of mischief at Hogwarts!" Sirius said happily as he watched his goddaughter's reaction to her father's cloak.

Suddenly they heard a bang from the kitchen and a giant glob came crawling out. "What were you trying to cook this time?" Harriet shouted in frustration. Sirius continuously tried baking and cooking, but it always ended up coming alive if he put it in the oven.

"Well, it was supposed to be a cake…" he replied slightly paler at the sight of his culinary creation. It seemed to be made of half-baked chocolate cake batter and it was dripping everywhere.

Sirius pulled out his wand out and muttered a few incantations that made the cake monster imploded on itself and get it everywhere. Harriet licked a little bit of the batter off her face. "If it actually baked without coming alive it would have tasted rather good," she commented offhandedly.

With another wave of his wand all the batter disappeared and the two made their way towards the kitchen for breakfast. Harriet grabbed the waffle iron and made waffles. Luckily Harriet's food didn't come alive. They ate quickly and left for Diagon Alley where Remus was waiting for them.

When they arrived at Diagon Alley Remus was there waiting by the Leaky Cauldron. Sirius ran up to his remaining best friend and gave him a hug. Harriet rolled her eyes and made her way over the last two Marauders at a leisurely pace as she looked at all the shops. Sometimes Sirius and Remus forget that she had never seen the majority of magic.

Harriet was so amazed by everything she didn't see a red headed teenage boy come barreling down the street. They collided painfully and Harriet's glasses nearly came off. "Sorry, I'm running from my older brother," he said as he got up and continued running.

She got up slowly only to be nearly pushed down by what seemed to be the same boy, but it couldn't have been because he went in the other direction. "Excuse me, have you seen my twin? We're trying to escape our older brother," the boy asked and she nodded pointing in the direction the other teen went. She put her glasses back on the right way when another red head came running through the crowd. He was definitely older than the other two by quite a few years. Harriet wondered if the twins were running from him.

He stopped in front of her and noticed that she was covered in dust and that her glasses were slightly askew. "Did you see to red headed twins come running through here?" He questioned the young girl in front of him. He noticed that she seemed to be his brother, Ron's, age.

"Yea, they went that way," she said pointing in the direction the twins went. She smiled wondering what the twins had done to their brother.

"I'm Charlie by the way. It was nice to meet you," he said quickly before he ran after his two younger brothers.

She sighed and made her way over to Remus and Sirius who hadn't even noticed she was gone. When Harriet got within hearing distance she could tell that they were arguing, "Sirius, Lily is going to be rolling over in her grave," Remus said running a hand through his hair.

"And James is dancing in his. The cloak belongs to Harriet, she is the marauders' heir after all," Sirius replied with a triumphant smirk.

"I honestly don't see why you two are arguing over this…as long as I don't misbehave with the cloak I doubt my mum would care," she told them trying to break up the argument.

The two men turned their heads towards her and realized that they had been fighting in front of her about what her dead parents would think. "Right, well let's get your school supplies! How does it feel being eleven, Harriet?" Remus asked changing the subject as the trio made their way down towards a shop called: Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Harriet assumed she was getting her school clothing there.

"Harriet, while you get your robes, Remus and I will get you a present from both of us," Sirius said to her pulling Remus off in another direction. The young girl rolled her eyes and entered the shop. A sweet witch came up to her and asked her if she needed Hogwarts robes. Harriet nodded and was told to stand on a footstool next to a boy with pale blonde hair and startling bright grey eyes.

"Hogwarts?" he asked quietly, not making much eye contact with her. Harriet smiled to herself. She figured he must be shy.

"Yes, I can't wait to go? Can you?" she replied happily trying not to move, so the pins wouldn't stick her.

"No, I have my calendar marked for September first. My mother is across the street getting my course books with my cousin, where's your family?" He questioned as he looked out the window, hoping that she didn't stare at him.

"My mum and dad died when I was little, but my godfather and uncle are here with me. Honestly, I'm not sure what they're doing. I just hope it's nothing that will get them into trouble," she sighed with a small smile thinking of her makeshift family.

"You're done, dear, off you get," Madam Malkin said to her. Harriet waved to her new friend as she left the store. Right before she left she saw Sirius and Remus outside. Sirius was holding up an animal cage and pointing to the snowy owl inside. Remus was giving her a tired grin. Obviously, Remus was on his last leg in dealing with Sirius.

Harriet ran over to the duo and gave them a huge hug and thanked them relentlessly. "Bambi, as your only remaining family it is our responsibility to spoil you a little bit now and again," Sirius said leading her off to another store.

It wasn't until they reached Olivander's that things went a little bit downhill. Harriet got her wand, but it turned that her wand was the sibling wand to Voldemort's. Remus and Sirius were horrified that she had the brother wand to the darkest wizard of their time. Harriet shrugged her shoulders and figured she'd read about wand cores when she got home. She didn't want to read too deeply into the wand cores, there was no point in worrying herself over something she couldn't control. Stanger things could have happened…okay maybe not, but she wasn't going to make it look like it affected her.

The three wandered around for a few hours before Sirius had to go to work and Remus had to go to a job interview. So, Harriet was going to sit at home and think about names for her snowy white friend.

When Sirius and Harriet arrived at the flat they found Tonks lying on the couch in the sitting room, asleep. Tonks was eighteen, almost nineteen, and at the moment she had neon blue hair, muggle blue jeans, and a black hoodie on. She had just started Auror training and was the official Potter babysitter for extra money, as dubbed by Sirius.

"You're here early, Dora," Sirius commented as Tonks jumped up in surprise and rolled off the couch, crashing onto the floor with a thump.

"Sirius, I told you not to do that," Tonks said angrily as she got up off the floor. Harriet noticed that her hair was turning a dangerously hostile red.

"Harriet, go to bed on time, don't burn down the house and behave for Dora. I'll see you after work," Sirius told his goddaughter before he apperated to work to escape his cousin.

"Hi, Tonks, sorry about Sirius. You know he likes to tease," Harriet said with a smile as she made her way to the stairs to put her owl in her room.

When she came back down Tonks had a small cake in her hands with eleven candles on it. "Happy Birthday! I figured Sirius' cake came alive again," the metamorphmagus commented.

The two hung out and had girl talk for a few hours. Then Harriet practiced kick boxing because Sirius had decided she needed to learn to defend herself, she took a shower, ate dinner and then read A History of Magic, where she found the perfect name for her owl: Hedwig.

The rest of the summer went by rather quickly for Harriet, between her godfather's cooking adventures, kick boxing lessons and reading her school books she didn't have enough hours in the day.

**Hello again! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It was rather fun to write. The next chapter: Platform 9 3/4! Who will Harriet meet on the train? Who will her friends be? Oh, and I just about hinted at every possible couple I was thinking of for future chapters in this chapter. So let's see who can guess them all!**

**Thank you for all the reviews! Please continue with those! I love hearing feedback! Oh, and someone asked me about Harriet wearing contacts! Well, I'm planning on her wearing contacts in fourth year actually! People usually get contacts around that age. Younger teens aren't trusted to clean their lenses correctly so they wait till they're older.**

**So, review for the next chapter. If I get more than five you'll get a chapter Tuesday! =D I hope that's an incentive to review!**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello! Since I got more than five reviews on the last chapter you get one today! I'll see you all at the bottom! =D**

**Chapter 3**

**Platform 9 ¾**

September 1st had finally come and Harriet had packed the night before, extremely excited that she was going to Hogwarts. Harriet woke up at seven in the morning due to shouting coming from the sitting room. She quickly grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that had I'm a dog person written on the back of it. She ran to the sitting room hoping to figure out what was going on.

When she got to the room she saw Sirius seething while glaring at a letter that was on the floor. Harriet sighed and picked it up. It was from the Auror office:

_Dear Mr. Black,_

_ We are sorry to inform you of this so last minute, but we need you to come to work today. We know you had taken today as a personal day and are sorry for the inconvenience._

_The Auror Department_

Harriet was fuming by the end of the letter and threw it on the floor like her godfather had. "Maybe we should light it on fire," Harriet suggested. Sirius threw his head back and laughed at her suggestion. He loved it when his goddaughter suggested lighting things on fire in anger, it reminded him of her parents' fights back at Hogwarts.

"Yes and we will dance on the ashes! Now, Remus and Tonks will be over shortly to take you to the platform…I hate the ministry sometimes. I really wanted to be there for your first trip to Platform 9 ¾," Sirius sighed in frustration.

The duo then turned their attention back to the letter. Sirius pulled out his wand and lit it on fire. They watched the letter burn and then had breakfast, this time the food didn't come alive, or blow up.

An hour and a half later Remus and Tonks arrived within five minutes of each other to take Harriet to the platform. Both of them had angry expressions on their faces when they heard about the letter and the improper way the ministry told Sirius he couldn't take Harriet to the platform, but they did laugh when Sirius told them how they disposed of it.

Twenty minutes later, after many hugs goodbye and advice on pranking from Sirius, Harriet arrived at Platform 9 ¾ with Remus and Tonks, who were fighting like an old married couple over the color of the Hogwarts express. Tonks thought that it should be every house color, while Remus thought it was fine just being red. The young girl sighed as she moved towards the train. "I'm going to find a compartment. Is there anything you want to say to me before I go?" she asked with a smile as she successfully stopped their argument.

"Behave and try not to get into too much trouble. As much as Sirius wants you to be a prankster, your mother would be rolling around in her grave if that happened. So, think wisely about your choices in school. Oh, and I'll see you at Christmas," Remus said ruffling her hair, loosening the clip she had in her hair that was hiding her scar.

"See you then. Bye, Tonks, good luck with the Auror training!" Harriet replied pushing her things onto the train, only to have everything fall on her left foot, twice.

"Need a hand?" A very familiar red head asked from behind her. She turned around quickly and saw one of the boys that pushed her down in Diagon Alley. Harriet was tempted to say no, but figured she should be polite and say yes…on top of that she really needed the help.

"Yes, please," she replied with a sigh. When the boy looked at her face he remembered her and felt guilty. He and his twin had been running from their older brother who they had pranked before they sprinted off. When he pushed her down he had been rather rude to her and figured that this was the perfect way to apologize.

"Oi, Fred, come and give me a hand with these," he shouted and his twin was there within seconds. They helped Harriet into an empty compartment that was towards the front of the train and put her stuff in it.

When her jacket fell off the top of her trunk and landed on the floor, she went to pick it up, and her clip slid off revealing her scar as she brought herself up. The twins stared at her in shock and Fred poked her forehead daringly.

"No way, you're Harriet Potter! Oi, George, we knocked over Harriet Potter!" Fred shouted panicking.

"It's fine. Crazy things like running from your brother and knocking people over happen. Let me properly introduce myself, I'm Harriet Potter, it's a pleasure to meet you," Harriet said with a good natured smile as she held her hand out for one of them to shake.

To her surprise, both of the twins grabbed her arm and shook her vigorously. "I'm George Weasley and this is my twin Fred. If you need us we'll be a few compartments over talking with our friend Lee Jordan, he brought a giant tarantella on board. See you at school!" George told her quickly before he and his twin left the compartment.

Harriet noticed that when George turned to leave something fell out of his back pocket. She figured that she should call them back, but the Marauder spirit got the better of her and she picked it up. She looked it over curiously. She recognized it from many pictures in her godfather's house. It was a blank piece of parchment, but she knew that some pieces of paper hold secrets, so she pointed her wand to the map and whispered, "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good."

Suddenly, a map of Hogwarts appeared. Harriet's smile grew seven fold. Sirius was going to be so happy when she told him that she'd found the map before she even got to Hogwarts. "Mischief managed," she said before folding the map. She tucked it into her trunk for safe keeping.

Harriet sat down and waited for the train to leave. She sat in silence for five minutes before another person came into the compartment, it was the blonde boy from the robe shop. He looked like he was a scared animal when saw someone else in the compartment. "You can sit down, there isn't anyone else in here…well, besides me," she told him motioning for him to come it.

"Thank you, I never told you my name and that was terribly rude of me, I'm Draco Malfoy," He said quietly rubbing the back of his neck, obviously nervous of my reaction. The Malfoy name has been in shambles since Lucius went to Azkaban. It was all thanks to Sirius Black for finding a multitude of Voldemort's dark objects in his possession. Harriet had been taught from birth to never judge people by their family ties, her godfather being the prime example.

"Pleasure, I'm Harriet Potter," she replied as she shook his hand. Draco froze in shock. He would have never even thought that Harriet Potter would have been civil towards him, his father had helped the man that killed her parents!

The train began to move as the two sat in silent contemplation. Harriet knew that Sirius wouldn't be happy that her first friend was a Malfoy, but he seemed harmless enough, if anything he was shy.

The compartment door slid open again to reveal another red head, Harriet assumed he was related to the twins from earlier, since he had the same face shape and hair color. The only problem she had with him coming in was that he was holding a rat, Harriet hated rats.

"My brothers told me that Harriet Potter was sitting in here, are you really her?" he asked curiously as he came in. The rat was gazing at Harriet curiously and it was creeping her out.

"Yes, but I'm not a fan of rats…can you keep it away from me?" she answered moving as far away from the rat as possible, but the boy only brought it closer.

"She said she didn't like rats, what didn't you understand about that?" Draco questioned with a raised eyebrow.

The boy seemed to notice the blonde for the first time and rolled his eyes. "I never got your name, might as well tell us," Harriet said sensing a fight coming on.

"I'm Ron Weasley what's your name?" he replied pulling his rat away from her and turning to Draco.

"I'm Draco Malfoy," he answered curtly looking at the ground. Harriet could tell that he was ashamed of his last name.

Ron snorted at his last name and Draco flushed a light pink. Obviously he had gotten this reaction before. This angered the young girl and she stood up putting her hands on her hips showing her obvious distain. Sirius had told her many times that when she did that she looked like her mother about to go on a tirade. "What's so funny about his name? You shouldn't judge people by their last name or what their parents did. My godfather was the only Black in history to be sorted into Gryffindor. If you can't be civil towards Draco, then you can leave," she said pointing towards the door. Ron looked at her in disbelief before flaring his nostrils and stalking out of the room and past another small group of people that were trying to come in. This time it was a young girl and two rather large boys.

The girl was on the shorter side with long raven black hair, a pointed face and unfeeling grey eyes.

"Rumor has it that Harriet Potter is sitting in this compartment… Ah, Draco, you've already found her, I'm surprised, you're usually too immersed in your books to notice anything else around you. A right disappointment to the Malfoy name, I guess that's why your mum favors me. I'm Alya Talitha Lestrange. I'm sure you know that there are some wizarding families better than others. If you need any guidance I'd love to show you the ropes," she told Harriet holding out a pale hand to shake.

Harriet didn't like this girl. She just bad mouthed her own family and just insulted Harriet's mum's blood status. Harriet now knew why Draco was so shy, he had no confidence with Alya around.

"I think I can make that decision for myself. Now, if you could leave, I'd like to read in silence for a while," Harriet replied slamming the compartment door shut. Sometimes, Harriet hated people.

She went back to her trunk and pulled out a book called Number the Star, she had been meaning to read the book before the summer ended, but had quite a lot to do. Before she opened the book Draco began to speak, "Thank you for sticking up for me, but I don't need your sympathy. I am a disgrace to my family, I don't really fit in with them. I don't even want to be in Slytherin."

This brought a smile to Harriet's face. She loved it when people rebelled against the family for self-embitterment. They sat in silence for another few minutes before the door was opened again, this time by a young boy. "Has anyone seen a toad? He's run off and I can't find him," the boy asked frantically.

"Have you checked the loo? Toads rather like cold and damp places," Draco responded not taking his eyes off the book he was reading. The boy let out a squeak before running towards the loo in search of his toad.

It wasn't even five minutes later when another person came in and this time it was a bushy haired girl with her school robes on already, who Harriet immediately recognized. "Hermione? I didn't know you were a witch as well!" Harriet said astonished. She had met Hermione at a scholarship competition a few months prior to getting her Hogwarts letter. They both managed to receive rather large scholarships for a muggle private school, but it seemed like neither of them were attending it.

"Harriet! It's been awhile! I would have never guessed that you were a witch, nevertheless the Harriet Potter. I hope we're in the same house! I'd love some friendly competition with you," she said before leaving the compartment.

"We should probably change into our robes, if you look I'll punch you out," Harriet told him and he turned around and closed his eyes while Hedwig watched Draco to make sure that he didn't peek.

**Hi again! It's been an interesting week. The next chapter is the sorting! Someone did guess all the possible couples and it was Grey-Rain-Cloud! Congratulations, there's a plate of virtual cookies for you! And the possible couples are Harriet with either: **

**Draco**

**George**

**or Charlie**

**If you'd like to vote for the couple you want you can! Another reason for you to review! And thank you so much for all the reviews from the last chapter! They've all been really positive and have had encouraged me to write! If you want another chapter by Friday I'll need more than five reviews!**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello! Here is the sorting! See you at the bottom!**

**Chapter 4**

**The Sorting Hat**

Harriet and Draco finished changing into their robes and sat quietly for the rest of the ride. When they left the train they were greeted by a giant man, she figured that it was Hagrid, Sirius had told her about him. He would be taking them to Hogwarts by boat, while the older students take carriages drawn by horse like creatures that it seemed only Harriet could see. She figured that they must have been thestrals, for only those who had seen death could see them…she figured that the deadly car accident she witnessed a few years ago sufficed enough to count as 'seeing death'.

She sighed and made her way onto a boat with Draco and two other people, the boy who lost his toad and Hermione. Harriet watched excitedly as they slowly sailed across the Black Lake, and she swore she saw the Giant Squid wave at her from below the lakes surface. Eventually the castle came into view and all the first years stopped to stare at it.

They entered the castle and were told to wait by Professor McGonagall, who gave the group of first years a stern looking over before going through the door, to what Harriet assumed to be the Great Hall. Draco sighed next to her, obviously worried about his sorting. "You're going to be fine, let the sorting hat make its choice and roll with it. You seem like a really smart person. No matter what house you end up in, I'm still going to be friends with you," Harriet told him calmly, her green eyes peering straight into Draco's silver ones.

"Thanks, Harriet-" he was cut off by Harriet putting a finger to his lips. She was shaking her head.

"Call me Harri. All my friends do. Harriet makes me sound old," Harri said with a smile before all the first years were led into the Great Hall where a hat was sitting on a stool. **(A/N: I am not typing the song out)**

The first few kids were sorted into Hufflepuff, then a few into Ravenclaw, the first Gryffindor was Lavender Brown, who beamed as she went to the table, the Weasley twins were giving her a cat calls as she sat down. Soon enough Hermione went up, the hat shouted: "Gryffindor!" and she hopped off the stool and made her way to the Gryffindor table. There were quite a few Slytherins sorted after that. A boy named Seamus was sorted into Gryffindor. It was a few minutes later when Draco was called up. The hat was put onto his head and it was about a minute later when it made its decision: "Ravenclaw!" The entire hall was speechless, he was the first Malfoy in history to be sorted in a house that wasn't Slytherin. After the a few more students got sorted McGonagall called up Harriet.

Now, that really got the hall to become silent. Harriet held her head up high and made her way up to the stool. Sirius and Remus had warned her about how people would start talking about her and bother her because of her fame.

She sat down quickly, hoping to get this over with as fast as possible. As soon as the hat was over her head she heard a voice, "Difficult…very difficult, I sense loyalty, a sharp mind, cunning and bravery beyond compare…Hufflepuff would be too mild for you. Ravenclaw would be too dull for your adventurous spirit. Now, Slytherin would lead you to greatness, but then you would stick out there, too many enemies lurk in that house. Then it should be Gryffindor!"

The Great Hall erupted from the side of the Gryffindor table. The Weasley twins were yelling, "We got Potter!" Harri chuckled quietly as she made her way to the table. She sat next to Hermione and George. The sorting ended with Zabini who was sorted into Slytherin.

She struck up a conversation with the twins about pranking ideas, and then spoke to Hermione about what classes they were looking forward to most. Hermione was looking forward to charms. Harri responded by telling her she was looking forward to transfigurations.

It was halfway through the feast when she felt eyes boring into the back of her head. She turned around to see a shallow skinned, hooked nose, greasy haired man glaring at her. "Who's that?" Harri asked George quietly, pointing to the teachers table.

George groaned. "That would be Snape, he's the potions master here. He's a right git and favors the Slytherin students. If he bothers you too much, just give Fred and me a heads up, we'll prank him out of his wits and he'll never be able to prove it was us," he answered with a smile, ruffling her hair. Harri sighed, she had heard stories from Sirius and Remus about how much Snape hated them, she had hoped that he wouldn't carry his prejudices to her, but it seemed that she was wrong to even consider the idea.

After the feast was finished Dumbledore warned everyone about the forbidden forest, taking an extra-long look at the Weasley twins before telling the students about the a third floor corridor that was off limits, unless they wanted to die. Harri felt that telling students about the corridor would only cause trouble. If someone was curious enough to go looking in there they could get themselves killed.

After they sang the school song they were herded off to their respective common rooms.

The common room itself was cozy and Harri could tell she was going to like spending all night on the couches near the fire, whether it'd be for studying or just lying there. Percy then shooed them all to their dorms, where there were only four beds to a single dorm room, there were five girls sorted into Gryffindor this year and it seemed that one of them would be sleeping alone. Harri volunteered mostly because Lavender, and a rather loud mouthed girl named Emily and Parvati seemed to only like to talk about fashion and Hermione wouldn't like sleeping in a room all by herself, or so Harri figured.

It was only when Hermione entered the room with all her belongings did Harri realize that Hermione didn't want to spend time with the other girls any more than she did. "Do you mind if I room with you? The other girls don't stop talking about silly things," she asked nervously.

"Sure, I don't see why not," Harri said pulling back the covers, changing into her pajamas and crawling into bed.

The next morning Harri woke up before anyone the other girls in the dorm and, after getting dressed, went to downstairs to the common room. When she got to the common room she was greeted by Fred and George talking heatedly by the fireplace.

"I'm going to go and check the Great Hall. The map has to be around here somewhere…" Fred said about to run, until he saw Harri walking come into the common room.

"Are you two looking for something?" She asked with a grin, knowing exactly what they were hopelessly searching for.

"George dropped a bit of parchment and can't find it," Fred replied quickly, a little too quickly. If she hadn't lived with a Marauder all her life she probably wouldn't have caught the lie.

"Moony, Prongs and Padfoot would be disappointed in you for losing their map on the train," she told them pulling the map out of her robes, waving it in front of them.

The twins were staring at her in shock. It was obvious that she knew about the map and the Marauders. The two red heads turned to her and grabbed her by her arms and hauled her to the couch, sitting her down, waiting for an explanation.

"How do you know about the Marauders?" George asked with a raised eyebrow hoping to get to the bottom of this small, yet rather important, mystery.

"Well, considering that Prongs was my father and Padfoot is my godfather and legal guardian, not to mention that Moony is my honorary Uncle, I'd say that I know the Marauders pretty well," she answered with a cheeky smile. The two boys looked like Christmas had come early. They had the only Marauder heir in their house, while they were at Hogwarts.

"You're the Marauder's heir! We're not worthy!" The twins said mock bowing to her.

"You two are crazy. If you ever need a prank idea, you can come to me. I promised I wouldn't get into too much trouble, so I can't really participate in the pranks," she told them patting them each on the head.

"I'm going to go and tell Lee about this," Fred said jumping up from the couch and running up to the boy's dormitory.

George was about to get up and follow him when Harri put a hand on his forearm. "Do you want the map back?" she asked, kind of hoping that they wouldn't. It was something her father made…

"Nah, it rightfully belongs to you. Thanks for telling us that you found it though, see you later Harriet," he answered making his way towards the stairs.

"It's Harri," she told him with a smile. Her green eyes were twinkling with mirth at the prospect of a new friend.

If Harri had been paying more attention she may have noticed the light blush that dusted George's pale, yet freckled, cheeks.

Harri went back to her room, figuring that she should probably write to Sirius and Remus about her time on the train and sorting. Then later that night she'd use one of the two way mirrors to quell her godfather's initial curiosity, but she had to wait for Hermione to be out of the room for that. From what she had seen of Hermione she noticed that the girl was a stickler for rules and would definitely not approve of her two way mirror.

Harri quickly pulled out a piece of parchment and began to write:

_Dear Sirius and Remus (I know you're there! You've been waiting for this letter too!)_

_ Well, I've made some interesting friends, one of them being a Malfoy. Now, before Sirius overreacts, (Remus, can you stop him from ranting? I know he is.) he isn't in Slytherin. He's in Ravenclaw and seems like a rather nice person. He reminds me of Remus, always has his nose in a book. I'm dorming with Hermione Granger, you know, the girl from the scholarship competition? I'm also friends with the Weasley twins, who are pranksters. Their names are Fred and George and they found the Marauder's Map and gave it to me! Anyway, I was sorted into Gryffindor and have to go and find the Great Hall for the first time in a matter of minutes and then I get my class schedule! I'm so excited. I'll contact you on the two way mirror when I can._

_ It also turns out that your dear cousin, Bellatrix, had a daughter. She seems absolutely horrid! She's so mean to Draco. I hope to build up his confidence a little and get Hermione to break some rules. Those are my goals so far as a Hogwarts student. I hope to make some better ones. Oh, and Snape is a professor at Hogwarts. He kept glaring at me during the feast. I blame you and dad. I'll write to you again soon._

_~Harri_

Harri heard Hermione get up right when she was folding her letter up. She'd find someone to show her to the Owlry later.

About a half hour later Harri was sitting in the Great Hall with Hermione who seemed ridiculously nervous. "Hermione, it's going to be fine. You're brilliant, you aren't going to have any problems in class," she told her for the millionth time that morning.

"Good morning, Harri," Draco said from behind the two girls. Hermione jumped in surprise and Harri laughed.

"Morning, Draco. What brings you all the way over to the Gryffindor table?" she replied with a chuckle.

"I got rather board sitting there by myself," he told her sitting down next to the emerald eyed girl.

Suddenly, the mail came and to Harri's surprise, Hedwig came flying in with a letter to her leg. Harri quickly took it off and tied her letter to Sirius on it. She quickly told Hedwig who to take it to before opening the letter.

As Hedwig flew away she opened the mysterious note:

**Dear Bambi,**

** I told Hedwig to give this to you after you got to Hogwarts. She's such a smart owl. You better be sending me a reply right now! Since I wasn't able to see you off at Kings Cross you better tell me all about your adventure on the train! Did you make any friends? Did you punch anyone? I hope you caused trouble, I don't care what Remus told you before you left, make the Marauders proud!**

**Your Godfather,**

**Sirius**

* * *

**So, how did you like the chapter? Did I surprise you when I sorted Draco into Ravenclaw? I hope I did =). It seems that George has a crush on Harriet already! Or is at least flustered by her, but that doesn't mean that he'll end up with her at any time during the story, after all it could just be a passing fancy.**

**From what I've gotten from my reviews:**

**George: 5**

**Draco: 3**

**and Charlie: 1**

**You can keep voting or just review the chapter in general. So please REVIEW! **

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello, it's been an entire week already? Well, I have updates at the bottom. See you all there! =)**

**Chapter 5**

**Classes Start and Brooms Rise**

Classes begun with History of Magic, which was taught by Binns, a rather boring ghost who droned on and put half his class to sleep. Luckily, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor had the class together. Draco and Harri passed notes to each other the entire time, much to Hermione's dismay. She had been taking diligent notes when she looked over to her roommate and noticed that there wasn't much written on her parchment. Upon further observation she realized that her new friend wasn't even paying attention. She was passing notes to Draco Malfoy, who was sitting next to her.

"You're my biggest competition and you're passing notes," she hissed angrily. Harri didn't bother listening, she'd read the book later and figure out what she was missing, no point in falling asleep.

Hermione refused to walk with Harri on their way to charms which they had with Hufflepuff. Flitwick was the charms professor, who when he read her name off the attendance list, toppled off his chair and out of sight.

Her class on Tuesday was Transfigurations with the Ravenclaw students. Harri sat next to Draco since Hermione wasn't talking to her. This class was taught by McGonagall, who was definitely not a witch to cross. She even threatened to expel any student who played around in her class. Harri rolled her eyes. If she didn't expel the Marauders, she wouldn't expel anyone over a little bit of trouble making.

They then moved to the practical part of the lesson, which was to turn a match stick into needle. Harri found that Transfigurations was easy as long as you envisioned what you wanted your match stick to turn into. After a few tries she managed to change her match stick into a needle, much to Hermione's displeasure.

McGonagall gave Harri a rare smile when she saw that someone managed to change their match stick into a needle on their first day. "I see you got your father's talent," she said with a nod. Harri could tell she was also happy to see that she didn't get his knack for troubling making.

Thursday morning was interesting to say the least. When Harri looked at her schedule she groaned, causing George, Fred and Draco, who had decided he was going to spend his meals with the Gryffindors, to turn to her confused. "What?" The twins asked at the same time. Draco didn't say anything, but it was obvious he was curious just by the way his head cocked to the side.

"I have double potions with Slytherin today. I just know that it's going to be a disaster," she said burying her head in her hands. She knew Snap was going to be horrible to her. It aggravated her that Snape would hold a grudge against her for something her father did.

Just then she saw Hedwig flutter in with the rest of the owls delivering the mail. The snowy white owl flew towards Harri with an air of triumph from delivering her first letter. Harri took the letter off her leg and dug out a few owl treats for Hedwig from her bag.

She ate them happily and then flew off with the other owls to get some well-deserved rest in the Owlry. Harri opened the letter, wondering what her crazy Godfather had written. Both Fred and George were looking over her shoulder to read the letter:

**Dear Bambi,**

** You're in Gryffindor! Remus owes me a galleon! He thought you were going to be a Ravenclaw…silly, silly, Moony. I'm glad that you've made friends with some pranksters and tell them thank you for me, if they aren't reading this with you, for finding the map. I thought I'd never see it again…Anyway, I hope that Hermione girl doesn't start having you follow the rules, though I'm glad you knew somebody on the train. **

** Okay, now on to an important topic, why are you friends with Malfoy's son! I thought I raised you better, but then again, I did raise you to give people second chances. If he harms one hair on your head, he's a dead man. That goes double for Snape, I can't believe that git is a teacher. **

** I've attached a newspaper clipping that I think you'll find interesting. There was a break-in at Gringots the same day we were there! Crazy right? Well, maybe that's why I saw Hagrid at Gringots while you and Remus were looking at books. We're going to need to discuss this more later. I'll be calling on the two way mirrors tonight at about eight. **

**~Sirius**

Draco sat back politely, knowing that Harri would tell him what it said later, right now he'd just sit back and eat his toast. While Harri had been unfolding her letter, Draco had received a letter of his own and was planning on reading it while she was distracted with her godfather and the twins who were poking her sides while she blocked the letter from their view:

_Draco,_

_As your mother, I'm happy that you aren't in Slytherin, but as you're the only Malfoy heir, I have to say that I'm disappointed in you. Though, it could have been worse, you could have been a Gryffindor, which would mean I would have to disinherit you, but luckily you're in Ravenclaw. I would suggest that you not come home for any breaks during the school year besides the summer holidays. I don't want your father getting wind of the fact you aren't in Slytherin, which means none of his friends can see you. Please make other plans for the holidays._

_Your Mother,_

_Narcissa _

"That's a formal letter. If you want you can stay with me for the holidays. Sirius and I have a lot of extra room," Harri told him on their way to class. Harri and Draco were headed in the same direction till the end of the hallway where Harri had to walk all the way down to the dungeon.

"Thanks, I'll think about it. I'll see you later, Harri," Draco replied walking in the other direction to charms. When she walked into the dungeons she sat down next to Ron, who seemed to be saving a spot for her, which was nice of him. It was also away from Hermione, who didn't seem to like Ron at all. Though, the feeling seemed to be mutual, neither got along well with the other.

Potions had seemed like an interesting class, until she realized the teacher was a git. Professor Snape kept glaring at her, and like Flitwick he stopped at her name, "Ah, Potter, our new…celebrity."

Alya and her friends were trying to hide their snickers as Snape swooped down upon her and unleashed his pent up wrath. She thought this was stupid, she's eleven years old, a girl, and NOT HER FATHER!

Snape then gave a rather large speech about how all of them were dunderheads. Snape now had Hermione's full attention, she did not want to be classified as a dunderhead. That was when Snape turned on Harri.

"Potter, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Snape asked with a sneer.

"Draught of the Living Dead," she answered with a frown. She didn't like where this was going. The only reason she knew any of this was because she was determined to make wolfsbane for Remus.

"Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?" he questioned her again.

"In the stomach of a goat," she nearly snapped back. There was no way she was going to back down from this. She refused to get an answer wrong. The entire class was watching with interest as Harri stood up to the potions master.

"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?" he asked with a smirk.

Harri knew this was a jab at Remus' condition and she wasn't going to get this answer wrong, "There is no difference, they're the same thing," she growled. Snape stalked away and began teaching the class a basic potion.

Neville managed to blow his up and somehow Harri had been blamed for it and lost a point for Gryffindor.

Luckily, Gryffindor only had one class with Slytherin and that was potions, until she found out that flying lessons were with them. Harri didn't want to have to deal with Alya when she was learning how to fly, but it seemed like the universe had other plans for her. From what Draco told her, Alya couldn't really fly all that well.

Within the next few days her dorm room was filled to the brim with books on flying. Hermione didn't realize that she couldn't learn how to fly by reading, but she was going to try anyway.

The next morning Harri and Draco watched Neville and Hermione read out of Quidditch Through the Ages and try to learn everything they could about flying. Though, part way through breakfast Neville got a gift, a remembrall, from his grandmother.

Alya had come over to the Gryffindor table at that point to cause trouble by taking Neville's remembrall. "What have you got here, Longbottom? Something just as useless as you, it seems," Alya sneered towards the shy boy as she examined the remembrall.

"Shut up, Alya. You're causing trouble," Draco said, standing up to his cousin, for the first time.

"Oh, please, you're lucky to be alive. If my mother was raising you, you'd be dead. You're a filthy bloodtraitor, Draco," she replied with a smirk. Draco hung his head down in shame, backing down from his triumphant cousin. Harri was about to get up and punch her when McGonagall came walking over to stop the inevitable fight between the two girls.

Alya quickly gave the remembrall back and went back to her table in the Great Hall.

At three thirty that same afternoon Draco was accompanying Harri down to the front steps of the school, where Harri would be having her first flying lesson. Draco was still upset over what his cousin had said to him. "Your cousin is a prat, Draco. Don't listen to anything she says to you," Harri said right before she had to say goodbye to him.

"I'll see you later," she told him patting him on the head.

"I'll be watching you from Ravenclaw tower. I'll see you after your lesson," he replied walking back into the castle.

Harri walked over to the rest of the Gryffindor's and waited for the lesson to begin. Hermione and Neville were quietly talking with each other, trying to figure out which broom to use. Harri figured that the school brooms, no matter which you chose, wouldn't work all that well.

Fred and George had warned her that they weren't all that good. Within five minutes Madam Hooch came onto the field, she had short grey hair and had the eyes of a hawk.

She had set each student up with a broom and had them hold their hands over their brooms and say: "Up."

Harri's immediately jumped to her hand, and it was one of the few that did. Hermione's just rolled on the ground, much to her annoyance. Obviously the books didn't help her. "Hermione, just treat it like you would train a dog to sit, show no fear," Harri told her.

Hermione did as she said and her broom flew to her hand without fail. "Good advice," she murmured.

They were about to fly for the first time, but Neville jumped up in nervousness and was haphazardly flying through the air…until he fell off. He hit the ground with a sickening thud. Madam Hooch ran over to the poor boy and tutted, muttering something about a broken wrist. "None of you are to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch'." She threatened as she took him to the hospital wing.

As soon as she was out of earshot Alya picked something up off the ground, "Look, it's the trinket his gran sent him," the nasty girl snorted as she threw it in the air.

"Give it here, Lestrange, or I'm going to make you," Harri shouted not letting this girl get away with anymore bad behavior. The only reason she hadn't punched Alya in the face was because Ron was holding her back.

"If you want it, come and get it," Alya replied taking off into the air. Harri mounted her broom and was about to take off when Hermione began to scold her.

"Harriet, you're going to get us in trouble!" the bushy haired girl yelled with her hands on her hips for emphasis of her annoyance.

Harri ignored her and pushed off of the ground. As soon as her feet left the ground she felt free. Flying was easy, flying was fantastic. Harri made a sharp turn and faced Alya, who looked worried.

"No one here to save you, is there?" Harri taunted with a smirk. The same thoughts must have been going through Alya's head as well because she looked panicked .

"If you think you're so good at flying, then go and catch it," Alya said throwing the remembrall higher into the air. Harri saw it falling in slow motion. She did what came naturally and dove for it. She pulled up a few feet above the ground, tumbling lightly to a stop with Neville's remembrall held tightly in her hand.

"Potter, you could have broken your neck!" a voice yelled from behind her. It was McGonagall.

Harri sighed and walked over to McGonagall, who might expel her. The other Gryffindors tried to explain to her who started the fight, but she wasn't having it. The head of Gryffindor house led her back to the castle. She followed the stern witch to the charms room where she asked for 'Wood,' though she didn't know who or what it was, until it came out of the room. It turned out that it was a fifth year student.

"Wood, I've found you a seeker!" she told him excitedly. Wood seemed surprised and then overjoyed.

"Are you sure, Professor?" he questioned, hoping this wasn't a prank by his head of house.

"I'm positive. She's a natural flyer. Was that your first time on a broom, Miss Potter?" McGonagall asked, already knowing the answer. McGonagall knew that Harriet Potter hadn't been allowed to do anything magical until she entered Hogwarts and that included quidditch.

"She caught a remembrall after a fifty foot dive, didn't even scratch herself. I don't think Charlie Weasley could have done it," she continued to tell Wood. Wood looked like all of his prayers had been answered.

"She's just the right build. Have you ever played a game of Quidditch, Potter?" Wood asked her excitedly.

"No, but I'm able and willing to learn," Harri replied happily. Sirius was going to be so proud when he found out that she broke the one rule he and her father couldn't: no first years can join the quidditch team.

McGonagall dismissed Wood and sent a rare smile to Harri, "Your father would have been proud. He was a rather good quidditch player himself."

Harri walked into the Great Hall and sat in between Draco and George, who was next to Fred. The twins were grinning madly. "Wood told us about you getting onto the team. Fred and I are on the team too, we're beaters," George said with a smile.

From what Harri knew about quidditch, those two were perfect as beaters. They seem like the kind of people who would enjoy hitting things at other people. "So, we have a prank to pull tonight. Do you want in?" Fred asked with a mischievous smirk.

Harri tapped her chin lightly, thinking over her options. "Sure, what time do you want me downstairs?" she replied.

"Eleven thirty, don't be late," George told her, tapping her nose. Draco had been listening avidly, until his smile changed into a frown.

"Enjoying your last meal, Potter?" Alya sneered from behind her with two rather large boys behind her. Obviously she felt that she needed body guards.

"I was until you came along," Harri replied putting a piece of chicken into her mouth, trying to ignore the rude girl behind her. She could hear Draco repressing a snort next to her. Alya didn't seem to get the message and continued to blather on about something or another. Harri's attention was only peeked when she said something about challenging her to a wizard duel.

"No, I'm not doing anything stupid. You're obviously trying to set me up," Harri said getting up. She had suddenly lost her appetite.

It was later that night, while Hermione was in the library, thst she pulled out her two way mirror and talked to Sirius about the day's events. "You're joking!" he shouted from other end of the mirror. He was over the moon about her getting on the quidditch team her first year.

"Nope, I'm the youngest seeker in a century and my two friends Fred and George asked me to pull a prank with them tonight!" she said with a smile, but sadly the moment wasn't meant to last because she heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

"I have to go. I'll talk to you again soon," she told him putting the mirror under her pillow.

Soon enough Hermione entered the room with a set frown on her face. "I thought I heard another voice coming from in here…" she muttered to herself when she saw Harri sitting alone on her bed. Hermione gave her roommate an icy glare as she sat down on her own bed.

"I'm going to go and sit near the fire downstairs, it's feeling a little cold in here," Harri commented, making a jab at Hermione's attitude, before making her way out of the room and down the stairs where she would take a nap and wait for the twins to start their prank.

At eleven thirty the twins came down from the boy's dormitory to find Harri asleep on the couch closest to the fire. There was a piece of parchment and quill on the table next to her. Obviously she went to sleep doing her homework. Her hair was out of its usual braid and sprawled across her face making her look a few years younger than she really was. Fred was the daring twin and decided to wake her up by throwing paper balls across the room at her.

Harri stirred when a ball hit her and knocked her glasses off. "What's going on?" she asked slightly disoriented.

"Ready to go? It's time to pull a prank!" George said hoisting her up off the couch and pulling to the portrait hole.

The trio was halfway down a hallway when Harri finally asked a question that she had been meaning to ask since that morning, "What prank are we pulling exactly?"

"We're going to do something with magical hair dye…we just aren't sure what yet," Fred replied as he pulled out a bunch of little vials from his robes.

"How about putting them in random people's drinks? Then at breakfast a bunch of different people will have different colored hair. That way there won't be any discrimination between houses, while at the same time be hilarious," Harri suggested and the twins did a happy dance.

"Brilliant!" Fred and George said at the same time. They knew now that trouble making was a genetic trait and hoped to pass it down to their children as well.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps coming down the hallway and the three of them dived behind a suit of armor. When the steps stopped they heard voices talking rapidly to each other. "I don't know where they went, Neville. I told you not to follow me!" Hermione said in a serious tone.

"Hermione, Neville, what are you two doing out here?" Harri questioned the two before another set of footsteps was heard, this one wasn't human though. It was feline steps coming their way.

"Mrs. Norris, run!" Fred yelled in a hushed tone. The five of them ran blindly through multiple hallways till they approached a door and piled in. They all heard Filch's voice from outside mumbling to himself about where they went. When he walked away the group let out a collective sigh of relief, until they turned around to six pairs of eyes. Behind them was a three headed dog. Harri pushed the door open, she'd rather face a detention get eaten by the monster in front of her. She ushered everyone out and they all ran back to the Gryffindor common room.

When they got back they were all panting, Fred and George were holding their chests. "Why the bloody hell is that thing in the castle?" George nearly shouted to the empty common room.

"Isn't the answer obvious? Didn't you see the trap door it was standing on?" Hermione replied almost haughtily.

"No, I was too busy looking at its heads!" Fred snapped. He was getting tired of Hermione's attitude. It was too late to be dealing with pompous first years. "See you tomorrow, Harri." The twins quickly exited the room and went to bed.

Harri, Neville, and Hermione did the same, though right before Harri went to sleep Hermione gave her some words of 'wisdom', "Don't do that again. We could have died or worse, expelled."

The last thing on Harri's mind was, 'she needs to get her priorities straight.'

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter! =D It's been an interesting week for me... I have some updates on what's going to be happening with this story, since it strays a bit from the cannon...if anyone hadn't already noticed. XD The first and second books are going to follow the general plot line, with a few added things in here and there. The third book is going to be the shortest since Sirius isn't in Azkaban, but Peter will make his appearance, just not the same way you think he would. The fourth book will start Harri's first serious relationship. So, voting for couples will be going on for awhile. Fifth book will be interesting...the sixth will be very different and the seventh book will be fun. **

**I'll be closing the poll for possible Harri couples at the end of the first book and then I'll open a poll for Hermione. I already have a pretty good idea on who I'm going to have her end up with though. =) **

**That means that you have to keep reviewing if you want a say in who Harri ends up with. At this point it's:**

**George: 10**

**Draco: 5**

**Charlie: 1**

**Someone also mentioned Harri with Neville, sorry but I have other plans for Neville already.**

**~Animerocker**

**PS**

**I still don't own Harry Potter...**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello, it's been a long week. I have news at the bottom! Enjoy the chapter!**

**Chapter 6**

**Halloween**

The next morning Harri and the others were discussing what the three headed dog could have been guarding underneath the trap door, while Hermione made a point to ignore them. Fred and George figured that it was some dangerously valuable object that only a fool would go after, which is why the two of them were making imaginary plans on how to get past the three headed dog.

"Maybe we could hypnotize it by swinging Harri's hair in front of it!" Fred suggested tugging on Harri's braid. She punched him for it, causing Draco to laugh at their antics.

"Maybe we could sing it to sleep!" George said sarcastically throwing his hands up in despair.

"Only if it likes your tone deaf singing," Fred replied with a smirk. Harri snorted listening to the twins bicker.

When the owls came in Hedwig was carrying a rather large package accompanied by five other owls. When the item landed on the table it was easy to see that it was a broom.

There was a note on the packet that read: _Do Not Open The Parcel At The Table! It contains your new broom, but I don't want everybody knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want one. Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the Quidditch field at seven o'clock for your first training session._

_Professor McGonagall_

There was also a letter taped to the underside of the broom:

**Dear Bambi,**

** You made the Gryffindor Quidditch team! I'm so proud…it was the one rule that your father and I couldn't break! So, as soon as you told me, Remus and I went shopping for a broom and sent it right to Minnie! I also told her not to tell you the make or model! I want it to be a surprise! I hope to make it to your first match against Slytherin! Your father would have been so proud of you! I feel like I'm tearing up a bit…Mooney, you take over the rest of the letter. ****Bambi, your godfather is insane, but I do agree with him. We're very proud of you. I'm sure that after her initial shock your mother would have been very excited as well. If Sirius is going to the match, I will be going as well. You and I both know he can't control himself.**

**See you soon,**

**Remus and a very emotional Sirius **

"Well, come on. Let's head back to the common room and open this parcel up to see what model your godfather bought you!" George said as he and Fred picked her up by the arms and dragged her out of the Great Hall, much to the amusement of the other Hogwarts students. Draco followed close behind carrying the broomstick behind the trio.

"You two are mad. Put me down," Harri told them squirming in their arms. Despite the twins having leaner builds they were rather strong and wouldn't put her down.

They finally reached the common room and all four of them walked in. Draco was pretty sure that the twins forgot that he wasn't a Gryffindor sometimes. He looked around the room and noticed that this room was much cozier than the Ravenclaw dorms, but he preferred the walls of bookshelves that lined walls in his common room

"You two do realize that you forgot the broomstick on the table after you hauled Harri out of the Great Hall," Draco told them putting the parcel on one of the tables in the common room.

The twins finally let Harri go and she walked over to the package and opened it, revealing the Nimbus 2000 inside.

"I suppose you're proud of yourself for breaking the rules and getting a broom," a voice said from behind the group. They turned around to see Hermione standing in front of them with her arms crossed.

"Hermione, lighten up a little bit. Neville might never have gotten his remembrall back if I hadn't gone after it. Where's your Gryffindor courage?" Harri asked her roommate, appalled at her negative attitude.

Instead of answering, Hermione turned up her nose and retreated to her room. "Is she always like that?" Fred questioned with a frown.

"Just about. I'm going to write a thank you letter to my godfather and then I have to get to class," Harri told them shooing the boys away from her.

"Wait, you're not even a Gryffindor!" George shouted at Draco who was halfway through the portrait hole. The blonde just smirked and ran out. Fred ran his hand through his hair and sighed.

"See you later, Harri. Tell us how your Quidditch lesson with Wood goes!" Fred said, ruffling her hair before he and his brother left the common room. The young Gryffindor ran to her room, put her new broom down on her bed and grabbed her book bag and went back down to the common room to write her letter away from Hermione, who gave her an icy glare when she entered to get her things.

_Dear Sirius and Remus,_

_ THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE BROOM! It's awesome! I can't believe you went out late at night to get it. This is so exciting! I'm having my first practice tonight. I better go and send this before classes start. I'll write to you soon!_

_~Harri_

Harri quickly looked at the marauder's map to see where the Owlry was. She planned the fasted route there and back, tucking the piece of parchment in her pocket, just in case she got lost and ran.

She was surprised when she actually made it without getting lost. She found Hedwig perched near the entrance and called her over. The snowy owl fluttered down. Harri pulled out some treats for her and tied the letter to her leg. She hooted happily before flying off to deliver her letter to Sirius.

As she was making her way back she ran into someone, literally. When she looked up she noticed that he was a Hufflepuff, and definitely older than her. He might be in the twins' year. He was rather handsome as well.

"Sorry about that. I wasn't watching where I was going," Harri apologized as she got off the ground.

"It's alright. Everyone's always in a rush. I'm Cedric by the way," he said extending his hand out for Harri to shake.

"Harriet Potter. It's a pleasure to meet you," she replied with a smile. He suddenly focused on her forehead, but it was covered by her bangs.

"Cedric, we're going to be late for class, hurry up!" another boy shouted from around the corner.

"Coming, Jason! I better get going. It was nice meeting you," he told her running off back to where he'd come from.

"Hey, guess what I have in my pocket," the mysterious kid named Jason asked, his voice ringing through the Owlry.

"I swear, if you're carrying bags of steak with you again…" Cedric's voice trailed off into the distance.

That was when Harri realized that she only had ten minutes to find her way to her class. The young first year panicked and sprinted History of Magic

Seven-o-clock didn't come around fast enough for Harri. She hadn't been able to focus at all. The only thing she could think about the broom in her room.

She went to the quidditch pitch with a smile on her face and kicked off the ground and flew around in circles for a few minutes till a voice called her down, "Hey, Potter, come down!" She circled Oliver once and landed softly. She noticed that he was carrying a wooden crate in his hands and she looked at it curiously.

"Wow, McGonagall was right, you are a natural. Now, do you know the rules of quidditch?" he questioned. If living with Sirius Black taught her anything it was the rules of quidditch. He claimed her father would have a heart attack if his baby girl didn't know how to play a game of quidditch by the time she got to Hogwarts.

"I know the rules. I've never played though," she replied eyeing the crate. Oliver opened it to reveal the different types of balls they would be using. He then compared the Weasley twins to human bludgers, which Harri assumed would be a compliment to them. Oliver then had her catch golf balls around the pitch. She didn't miss a single one.

October 31 came around too quickly for Harri every year. She just wished that she could visit her parents' graves, but sadly she had school. She had never had a happy Halloween and figured that this year would be no different and her assumption was proved to be true in Charms that morning. It all started with a simple levitation charm…

Harri decided to sit next to Neville and apologize for dragging him into the three headed dog incident. "It's fine! I hope I never see it again!" he told her adamantly. She smiled at him. They started working on the charm. Neville was having a hard time. So, Harri was giving him pointers. Harri quickly got her feather to rise, but decided not to draw attention herself. She knew that this was Hermione's best subject and Harri really didn't want her roommate even angrier at her than she already was. At the moment Hermione was sitting next to Ron, who seemed to be annoyed with Hermione, not like that was anything new.

"You're saying it wrong, it's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long," Hermione snapped at Ron. Those two did not get along in the slightest. Hermione disliked Ron more than Harri and the Weasley twins put together. Ron was always making fun of her and despite Harri's warnings to stop he just wouldn't.

"You do it, then, if you're so clever!" Ron snarled back at her.

"Fine, Wingardium Leviosa," she said and her feather floated off the desk and into the air. Harri laughed at the enraged look on Ron's face and that earned a smile from Hermione, who hadn't spoken to her in a week.

Harri waited for Hermione after class to see if they could maybe med their stressed friendship. Right before she said something to Hermione she heard Ron's voice filter in, "She's a nightmare, honestly. She must have noticed that she's got no friends."

Hermione rushed past Harri in tears. "Ron!" Harri shouted and he turned tail and ran away from her.

Harri sighed and hoped to talk with her in their next class, but she never showed up. This worried her. Hermione would never miss a lesson… that was when Harri decided to look for her. Draco came with her, since he rather liked Hermione's company during class and she didn't sneer at his last name like half the school did.

They searched almost everywhere, until Harri smacked her head with her hand. "The map!" she said exasperated. Draco looked on confused as his friend pulled out a piece of old parchment and pointed her wand to it, whispering "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."

The map came to life revealing Hermione in the girl's bathroom. "Mischief managed," she mumbled and the ink disappeared. She figured that Hermione must have been crying all day.

"Come on," Harri said tugging on his robes, leading him to where the girls' bathroom was. That was when they saw a troll walking into it.

The two looked at each other and knew what they had to do and ran into the bathroom to help Hermione. When they entered the room they saw Hermione with her back against the far wall, the troll had her cornered.

"Hermione, run!" Harri shouted motioning for her to come towards her, but Hermione was frozen in place. Harri then did something very brave and very stupid. She grabbed a pipe from the floor, leapt onto the back of the troll and shoved the pipe up its nose. That was when the troll started to flail around, nearly knocking Harri off each time it swung its arms.

"Draco, do something!" she shouted and her voice suddenly got Draco's mind working.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, causing the trolls club to hang in midair. He then released the spell causing it to fall painfully on the monster's head.

"Is it dead?" Hermione asked poking the troll with her foot.

"No, I'm pretty sure it's just knocked out. Nice wand work, Draco," Harri said. The compliment caused Draco to blush slightly, but her attention was on Hermione.

Suddenly all the teachers rushed in. Harri figured that they must have heard all the racket from downstairs. "What on earth were you three thinking? You could have been killed!" McGonagall shouted.

Harri thought on her feet. Hermione wouldn't want to admit that she had been crying all day, so Harri came up with something that would work with this situation. "It's the anniversary to my parents' deaths today…I didn't feel like eating and came here to get away from everyone. Hermione and Draco came looking for me right before dinner. We didn't know about the troll till it came into the bathroom," Harri told her quickly, looking down at her feet. It wasn't a total lie. She was going to go into her room later and cry silently into her pillow.

McGonagall's eyes softened at the mention of Harri's parents. She had completely forgotten that the anniversary was today.

"Very well, five points to each of you for taking the troll down. Just get out of my sight before I change my mind," she said dismissing them.

The three of them walked in silence until they reached the point where Draco would have to leave their company to go to Ravenclaw Tower. "Thanks," Hermione mumbled with a smile.

"It was no problem. I'll see both of you in transfigurations tomorrow," Draco replied leaving their line of vision.

"Halloween is such a bittersweet day," Harri mumbled before crawling into bed. She had made friends with Hermione, but had almost gotten killed by a troll in the process. The last thing she saw that night was a picture of her parents that she brought with her from home.

From that day onward Harri, Hermione and Draco were best friends. There are some things that bring people together, fighting a mountain troll happened to be one of them.

**So, I hope you liked this chapter! Cedric has made his appearance and he has a rather strange friend, who is based off a close friend of mine. He really wanted to be put in this...even though he's never read it. XD I've almost finished writing the first book and I know how I want to start the second (it will probably make you laugh). So, you shouldn't have to worry about me not updating. =) So, yea...I don't actually have much news...besides the fact that I can't wait for the Mortal Instruments movie coming out in August. **

**Oh! I do have a review question to answer! Shame on me for almost forgetting something like that: **

**prankster-at-heart: Will Fred have a love interest? Well, of course he will! =D I wouldn't have even considered letting Harri and George be together without Fred having a love interest. If anyone can guess it you'll get a virtual cookie. Just remember, I'm changing a lot of things about deaths...and survivors.**

**Voting count time:**

**George: 14**

**Draco: 7**

**Charlie: 2 (the underdog=)**

**So, Draco is trying to catch up, but it seems like George will win this one at the rate he's going. Then after this you get to vote for Hermione's possible boyfriend. As I've mentioned, she isn't going to be dating Ron, since he isn't that big of a character in this story. If anyone can guess guys I'm planning on pairing Hermione with, you can be a character in this if you want.**

**I hope that gives you an incentive to REVIEW! =)**

**And if you have any questions PM me or leave it in a review and I'll answer you either on the PM or on my next chapter.**

**~Animerocker **

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello everyone! It's been a long week. I've been rather sick, but I'm not letting that get to me. I'm going to keep giving you chapters! =D See you at the bottom. I have some news for you!**

**Chapter 7**

**Quidditch**

Within few weeks snow had started to fall on the Hogwarts' grounds. The frosty weather marked the beginning of quidditch season. Harri loved the cold weather, it cleared her head and she needed a lot of that recently, between her classes and practice she needed time to just think.

After weeks of practice Harri was finally ready for her first quidditch match, well she was ready physically, just not mentally. Despite her calm demeanor, Harriet Potter was extremely nervous for her first match, especially since everyone in the school had somehow found of that she was the new seeker for Gryffindor. Draco and Hermione could tell that she was nervous for her first match, so to try and help her they took her for a walk around the school grounds.

Currently, they were wandering near the Black Lake, which was frozen, with a lantern of blue fire that was kept in a jar to keep the three of them warm. Hermione had conjured the flame, after being told about the charm by Draco. Harri had transfigured the jar from a cup.

As they were making their way back to the castle they saw Snape limping in the same direction. Even though they moved the fire out of his view the potions master came over to interrogate them anyway. As he came closer to them Harri noticed that he had bloodied bandages on his leg. She figured that was why he was limping, but what could have caused an injury like that? Harri moved her _Transfigurations through Time_ in her arms. It was her father's copy, which had many notes and tricks written about the spells within it. She also had her mother's favorite potions book back in her dorm, which Harri figured would have been better to carry in this situation.

"What have you got there, Potter?" he sneered as he glared at the book. It was obvious that he recognized the book in her arms. She held it to her chest tightly.

"It's my transfigurations book, sir," she replied through gritted teeth.

"Very well," he hissed. Harri could tell all he wanted to do was throw the book on the ground and stomp on it.

Once he was out of earshot Hermione and Draco turned to her confused. "What was that all about?" Hermione asked beyond baffled.

"Snape didn't get along with my dad, my godfather, and my uncle Remus back in their Hogwarts' days and this book was my dad's. Snape probably recognized it," Harri replied running her finger across the spine of her father's book.

"I can't believe that my godfather has been holding a grudge like this for years," Draco sighed rubbing his forehead tiredly.

"Snape is you godfather?" Harri questioned her friend. He shrugged his shoulders in reply.

"You learn something new every day. Now, let's head back to the castle so you can show us that new spell you learned from your father's book," Hermione said changing the subject expertly. Harri followed her, but couldn't shake the image of Snape's injury. Whatever caused it looked like it tried to take off his leg.

"Did either of you notice that Snape was limping?" Harri asked on their way back to the castle.

"I did, but I don't know how he'd hurt himself and I don't fancy asking him," Hermione replied.

"He could have tried to get past that dog you were telling me about," Draco joked, well he thought he was joking until he saw the look the two girls shared.

"Draco what if he did? What's under that trap door? Your godfather mentioned that Hagrid picked up a package the day you went to Diagon Alley. That was also the day of the break-in. So, maybe we should pay a visit to Hagrid later and see if he knows anything," Hermione said proudly as they entered the castle.

The next morning came rather quickly for Harri. She appeared at breakfast pale and nervous. The twins kept trying to put food into her mouth, but she wouldn't have anything. Hermione was scolding her, telling her that she was going to pass out if she didn't eat anything.

She was surprised to see Hedwig soar in with a letter attached to her leg. Harri assumed it was from her godfather, but to her shock it was from Hagrid:

_**Dear Harriet,**_

_**I've been meaning to ask you to come and visit. I knew your mum and dad during their Hogwarts days and thought you might want some pictures and stories. How about you come down after the quidditch game today?**_

_**~Hagrid**_

"This is perfect Harri! Can Draco and I come as well?" Hermione asked excitedly. Harri nodded absentmindedly as she pushed a piece of scrambled egg around on a plate. The twins kept trying to force feed her between words, but it wasn't working. She nearly bit George's arm in his last attempt.

"Will you two stop it? I'm not hung-" Harri was cut off midsentence by a piece of toast being shoved into her mouth. She chewed the toast and swallowed it. The young Gryffindor turned her head around and saw Draco smirking at the twins as he sat down. Hermione was trying not to laugh at Harri's face as she swallowed her toast.

"Force feeding when she isn't paying attention to you works better," Draco told them lightly picking up another piece of toast for himself.

An hour later the twins were hauling Harri to the locker room where she'd be putting on her quidditch uniform. Draco and Hermione on the other hand made their way to the stands where they saw two men sitting at the top row talking rapidly to each other. One of them had dark black hair that reached his shoulders. The other had sandy blonde hair that was greying slightly in some spots and they could make out some scars marring his face. Hermione and Draco made their way to the top row as well and heard part of their conversation.

"I can't wait to see her play on the nimbus I picked out," the black haired man said nearly jumping up and down in excitement.

"Sirius, the game will start soon. Calm yourself," the other man told him, running a hand through his hair.

Hermione gathered some courage and walked up to them. "Are you Harri's family?" she asked. Both men turned their heads towards the first year Gryffindor. Sirius was the first to recognize these two as Harri's friends. From all the different times Harri had told him what his new friends looked like he could tell that these two were Draco and Hermione. That was when Sirius pounced.

"You must be Hermione! It's great to finally meet you!" he said shaking her hand. Remus rolled his eyes. He then noticed Draco standing farther back.

"You're Draco, correct? Thank you for befriending my niece. I'm Remus and this is Harri's godfather, Sirius Black. He's a bit of a loon," Remus told the boy dragging him over to the group. Within a half hour the quidditch pitch was filled. Everyone wanted to see the new Gryffindor seeker in action.

Meanwhile, in the locker room, the team was waiting for Oliver to give them a pep talk.

"Okay, men," he said.

"And women." said Chaser Angelina Johnson.

"And women," Wood agreed. "This is it."

"The big one," said Fred Weasley.

"The one we've all been waiting for," said George.

"We know Oliver's speech by heart," Fred told Harri with a smirk. "We were on the team last year."

"Honestly, will just let the man speak. You two are more trouble than your worth sometimes. Oliver, continue," Harri sighed. The twins immediately shut up. Wood looked at her in awe, she managed to get the twins quiet without screaming herself horse.

"This is the best team Gryffindor has had in a long time and we will win, or else," Wood told them threateningly.

The team walked out onto the pitch and when Harri saw Sirius, Remus, Draco, Hermione and Neville waving a banner saying Potter for president, she felt a little bit braver.

Madam Hooch told them to play a clean game and mount their brooms. Harri got onto her nimbus and waited for the whistle.

Once Madam Hooch blew the whistle fifteen brooms rose into the air. That was when the commentary by Lee Jordan started. Harri had heard from the twins that his commentaries were rather funny, but watch closely by Professor McGonagall.

And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor — what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too —"

"Jordan!"

"Sorry Professor."

"And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve — back to Johnson and — no, the Slytherins have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes — Flint flying like an eagle up there — he's going to sc— no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and the Gryffindors take the Quaffle — that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and — OUCH — that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger — Quaffle taken by the Slytherins — that's Adrian Pucey speeding off toward the goal posts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger — sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which —"

Harri rolled her eyes, she could tell that it was Fred. He was always the first twin to strike at the bludgers. George would follow close behind and finish whatever Fred had started.

"nice play by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes — she's really flying — dodges a speeding Bludger — the goal posts are ahead — come on, now, Angelina — Keeper Bletchley dives — misses — GRYFFINDORS SCORE!"

The young seeker did a loop in the air to celebrate Gryffindor's first score as the stands went wild, well at least half the stand went wild. Slytherin wasn't all that happy about the goal.

Remus and Sirius were watching with rapt attention. Neither of them wanted Harri to get hurt, but at the same time they were excited to see how well she could fly.

"Harri's been looking forward to this for weeks. She wanted to show you that she's a good flyer," Hermione told the two marauders in front of her.

"Well, she certainly doesn't disappoint. She's a fantastic flyer," Sirius replied watching his goddaughter. Her father would have been so proud. He hated that he was taking his best friend's place, but if it wasn't him who else would do this?

Harri had finished her little victory loops when she swerved to avoid a bludger that came hurtling past her. "Alright there, Harri?" George asked as he smacked the bludger towards Marcus Flint.

She nodded as Jordan's voice rang out through the stands. "Slytherin in possession," Lee Jordan was saying, "Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasley's, and Chaser Bell, and speeds toward the — wait a moment — was that the Snitch?"

Harri immediately located the snitch to the left of Adrian Pucey. The Slytherin seeker saw it at the same and it was a race to get to the snitch. Harri was faster and pulled ahead. Right before she could grab it she was blocked by Marcus Flint. She nearly fell off her broom as she spun off course.

"Remus, I was wrong. I should have never let her do this, she's going to get herself killed," Sirius told his friend freaking out over his goddaughter's wellbeing.

Harri managed to get control of her broom without much effort and pulled herself together. She was going to find the snitch.

"So — after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating —"

"Jordan!" growled Professor McGonagall.

"I mean, after that open and revolting foul…"

"Jordan, I'm warning you—"

"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinner, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession."

That was when Harri started to encounter some trouble. Her broom gave a nasty tug to the left. She knew brooms weren't supposed to do that. "Maybe the wind was too strong?" she mumbled trying to make sense of her broom's behavior, that was, until it did it again. She looked to see if she could catch Wood's eye to call a time out, but her broom was completely out control. She couldn't do anything as it flew through the air of its own accord.

"Of course no one noticed," Harri growled as the broom carried her higher and higher. There was no way she'd survive if she fell.

Lee was still commentating.

"Slytherin in possession — Flint with the Quaffle — passes Spinnet — passes Bell — hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose — only joking, Professor — Slytherins score — A no…"

"Now you see my broom acting crazy," she muttered as the broom gave another lurch, almost unseating her completely.

"What the bloody hell is going on with her broom?" Sirius asked angrily not caring about his language.

Hermione took her eyes off Harri to observe the scene around her. "I knew it," Hermione hissed as she stood up.

"What are you talking about?" Draco asked not following her thought process.

"Snape is jinxing her broom. He isn't taking his eyes off her. You need to keep eye contact for that. I'll be right back. I'm not letting Harri die," she said as ran off to the teachers stand.

"Don't you need to keep eye contact for a counter-curse too?" Draco questioned no one in particular, but he didn't have time to dwell on it because Harri's broom had finally managed to unseat her and she was hanging on to it with one hand for dear life. Sirius looked like he wanted to jump from the stands to try and rescue Harri.

"Why can't I fly?" Sirius groaned watching the scene in horror.

"Because you're not a bird, Sirius," Remus told him gripping the stand so hard that wood was breaking.

The Weasley twins were circling under her in case she did fall. That was when the broom started to vibrate and it was starting to really hurt to hold on to it. The twins then decided to try and pull her onto one of their brooms, but hers just kept moving out of the way. They then went back to circling her like vultures.

"You better be right Hermione," Draco muttered as he chewed his bottom lip in worry over his friend.

Hermione on the other hand was running as fast as she could to get to Snape. She even shoved Professor Quirrell over on her way to the potions master. She quietly set his robes on fire and within seconds the teacher's stand was in an uproar.

Harri was suddenly in control of her broom and swung herself back on it and dove towards the ground. She clapped her hands in front on her mouth as though she was about to throw up. She landed on the field on all fours and the snitch fell into her hands.

"She caught it…with her mouth," Remus commented absently. Harri happily held it up. Gryffindor had won one hundred and seventy to sixty. To Gryffindor's surprise Harri wasn't at the victory party. She was too busy chatting with Sirius, Remus, Hermione and Ron over what had happened to her broom during the match.

"It was Snape. I saw him cursing your broom. His eyes never left you!" Hermione argued.

"I'll kill him," Sirius said cracking his knuckles menacingly.

"You're not killing anyone," Remus scolded him and then smacked Sirius on the back of his head.

"Are you sure he wasn't doing a counter-curse? You need eye contact for that too. I mean I know he hates me, but killing me is a bit extreme," Harri responded. She really didn't want to think a teacher wanted her dead.

"That's what I was thinking, but they would have had to have taken their eyes off you when Hermione ran over to the teacher's stand," Draco commented. He didn't want to think that his godfather was trying to kill his best friend, but the evidence was against him.

"Bambi, Remus and I have to go. I'll write to you soon. Try to get into as much trouble as possible!" Sirius told her before grabbing Remus and dragging him away.

"Your godfather is insane," Hermione told her best friend with a smile. She obviously knew where Harri had picked up her crazy habits from.

"Well, I'm just hoping that our potions master isn't trying to kill me. I'm going to go and see Hagrid. Do you want to come?" Harri asked motioning for her two friends to follow.

Hermione walked by her side happily and Draco strayed behind slightly and watched his two close friends talk with each other. He couldn't believe that he survived meeting Sirius Black and not get cursed for befriending his goddaughter. "Draco, are you coming? I'm about to knock on the door!" Harri asked with a glowing smile.

"I'm coming," he replied jogging towards the hut.

When they knocked on the door to the hut they heard load barking from the other side. "Back, Fang!" Hagrid shouted. The three first years jumped back hoping the dog wouldn't attack. As soon as the door opened Fang, who turned out to be a dog, pounced on Draco, knocking him to the ground, and began to lick his face.

"Harriet, it's good to finally meet you! I heard you had a scare on your broom this afternoon," Hagrid said shaking her hand and in turn her whole body.

"Yea, it's great to meet you too. These are my friends. Hermione is standing next to me and the one getting licked to death by your dog is Draco," Harri introduced her friends. Hagrid whistled once and Fang got off Draco, who was a slobbery mess. He whipped his face on his robes till his face was dry.

"Well, we think that Snape tried to jinx her off her broom," Hermione said trying to see what Hagrid's reaction would be.

Hagrid gave her a scandalized look. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Snape's a teacher. He wouldn't try and kill a student!"

"Well, he tried to get past that three headed dog! Why wouldn't he try to kill a student?" Hermione argued.

"You lot know about Fluffy?"

"Fluffy? That monstrosity's name is fluffy?" Draco asked flabbergasted. He had heard from the girls what that thing looked like. He was questioning Hagrid's sanity since he named it Fluffy.

"Yea, he's mine. I bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year. I lent him to Dumbledore to guard-" Hagrid stopped midsentence realizing that he almost let a secret out.

"You have to tell us what it's guarding. Snape's trying to steal it!" Hermione persists.

"Now, listen to me, all three of yeh - yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guardin', that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel -" The first year's eyes lit up at the slip up of the name.

On their way back to the Gryffindor common room Harri was contemplating the name Nicolas Flamel…she had heard of him before, but where?

"I've heard that name before. I just can't put my finger on it," she mumbled.

"I'm going to be looking in the library till the Christmas holidays. You can try and remember where you've heard his name before that would be great," Hermione said as they walked through the portrait hole.

**Wow, this was an extra long chapter, wasn't it? I did use a few quotes from the book. For one I really couldn't change the commentary and I can't write Hagrid's accent. I loved writing Harriet in this chapter, Sirius was fun as well.**

**Thank you for all the reviews for the last chapter...and wow! Charlie is catching up, and here I thought he was going to lose. Okay, now it's time to answer some questions from the reviews:**

**Kika de Apus: You'll just have to wait and find out what I'm going to do with Remus' relationship. XD First part of Harriet's second year will have your answer.**

**ChiyukiLuvs2Glomp: If Draco doesn't win I'm not having a poll for him. I already have another girlfriend for him.**

**Vote count:**

**George: 20**

**Draco: 11**

**Charlie: 8**

**After the next chapter I'm going to narrow it down to the final two, so George fans, if you want to keep your lead you better vote because Draco and Charlie(the underdog is catching up! To all those who thought he was a hopeless cause, I guess he wasn't. XD) are catching up!**

**Oh, and only one person has guess who I might be pairing Hermione with. I won't give names of people who were correct until the end of book one! =D**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello! Wow, I've had a busy week. I had to be at school extremely late everyday this week...well, except today. I'll see you at the bottom.**

**Chapter 8**

**Christmas with Padfoot**

The Christmas season was coming and Harri couldn't be happier. With the Hogwarts covered in several feet of snow some of her classes had been cancelled, which meant snowball fights. Of course the twins had been given detention for bewitching snowballs to hit Quirrell in the back of the head, but it was worth watching. Hermione even chuckled at their antics!

Of course Alya was being as unpleasant as ever and continued to make fun of Harri for catching the snitch in her mouth, but no one would listen to her because they were all impressed with the Gryffindor seeker for her courageous catch. This just brought Alya back to making fun of her and Draco for not having a proper family to go home to this Christmas. Harri felt that she did have a proper family to go home to, it was just a strange one.

Harri had received a letter from her godfather asking if any of her friends were coming to spend Christmas with her. Harri already knew that Draco was spending the break with her and the twins immediately jumped at the chance to meet one of the Marauders. Sadly, Hermione couldn't join them because she was going to be with her family.

Draco, Harri and Hermione had spent all their free time in the library researching Nicolas Flamel. None of them had any luck finding anything on him. That was why Harri, the night before break, decided that she was going to look in the restricted section of the library herself.

Of course nothing happened according to plan. For one, it was rather dark in the library at night and she couldn't read the book titles properly and two, Filch showed up and then Snape joined the chase. So, Harri was quietly running through the halls of Hogwarts to try and get away from them. She saw a door on her left that was slightly ajar and slid in without either man hearing her. When their voices got farther away she let out a sigh of relief.

When she turned around to face what was in the room she noticed a giant mirror with words inscribed on the top: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.

The words bothered her, but she looked into the mirror anyway and was surprised at what she saw. It was a bunch of people, two she recognized, one was a shorter woman with red hair and the same eyes as Harri. Next to her was a tall, thin man with messy black hair that stuck up in the back. These people were her parents. Harri had only seen them in pictures, but they couldn't be in the room with her? People don't rise from the dead.

The young witch turned around and saw that no one was there and backed up so she could look at the words on the top of the mirror again. She knew that wasn't a language and the more she looked at it the easier it became to tell why it wasn't a language. It was written backwards. She pulled out some spare parchment from her robes and grabbed a quill and wrote the inscription backwards and then forwards: _I show not your face but your heart's desire._

That was when it hit her, this was the infamous Mirror of Erised. It was showing her what she always truly wanted, her family. She had read that people had gone insane because of this object, staring into it till they died. She backed up from it, not wanting to be stuck there forever. She had her own family now, she'd see her parents again when she died. On top of that, Sirius would be mad at her if she went insane over not seeing her parents. She might see them in the mirror, but she got stories about them from Sirius and Remus. They were her family now and she wasn't going to leave them.

Harri left the room as quickly as she came. She didn't want to see that thing ever again. It was a dangerous object. What she wanted to know was why the mirror was at Hogwarts, especially since it was in an abandoned classroom where any student could just wander into.

When she got back to her room Hermione was sitting up in her bed looking eagerly at her friend, hoping that she had found something about Nicolas Flamel.

"Sorry, there was nothing that I could find on him. We have to be missing something. I guess we'll just have to look further into it after the holidays. I doubt that I'll get much done with the twins and Draco around," Harri said with a smile. She couldn't wait till she saw her makeshift family again.

Christmas with Sirius was always interesting to say the least. He and Remus always played pranks on each other, well it was more like Sirius would prank Remus and then something untimely happened to Sirius sometime during the next day.

"Well, maybe your godfather would know something about Flamel or even your Uncle Remus? He seems really smart from what you've told me about him," Hermione replied as she pulled the covers around her and blew out the candle next to her bed, making the room completely dark.

"Maybe, but I don't want them thinking we're up to something," Harri yawned out. She curled herself into a little ball under her covers and went to sleep.

The next morning Harri was wide awake and ready to head back home and see her family and it wasn't long before she was on the train talking eagerly with Fred and George over what they'd be doing this Christmas. Harri had been leaving one thing out about their Christmas holiday and that was that they were going to be spending it at Potter Manor. It had been left to Harri in her parents' will and every Christmas she and Sirius would go and spend time there and make sure that everything was up to date. She didn't want to ruin the surprise for the twins and Draco since they're expecting to be sleeping in a guest room together at Sirius' flat in London.

"Now, if any of you find anything on Nicolas Flamel owl me right away," Hermione said breaking Harri out of her train of thought.

When they arrived at King Cross Harri looked around for any sign of her family. When she spotted her godfather and Remus she ran at Sirius and hugged him tightly. "Hey, Padfoot. There are some people that want to meet you," she told him happily. That was when the twins walked up to Sirius and Remus, dropped to the floor and began to bow saying: "We're not worthy."

"This is all going to go to his head isn't it?" Harri asked her honorary uncle. He sighed and nodded watching Sirius eat up the attention from the twins.

"You're attracting attention," Draco told the twins as he made his way over to the group as he dragged everyone's things with him. They had forgotten them when they saw Sirius.

Sirius sighed and motioned for the twins to get up. They did without a second thought and jumped up and down in excitement. "Okay, it's time to head to the manor," Sirius said offering his arm to his goddaughter, but the twins latched on instead. Remus chuckled and shrunk the trunks and put them in his pocket for travel. He held out his arm for Draco and Harri to take.

Harri took his arm with a smile and Draco followed suit. The group apperated with a crack to Potter Manor. They all arrived on the front lawn of the Manor which was lightly dusted with snow. The twins' jaws dropped at the sight of the huge house in front of them. The Potter Manor was enormous, it spanned the entire field of vision of the twins and was three stories in height. Draco could tell that it was an older house by the type of stone it was made out of and the classic window treatments it had. It reminded him of his home a little bit, except for the fact that all the bushes were covered with Christmas lights and there was a wreath hanging on the door with what seemed to be a stag and a doe in the middle.

"This is where you live?" Fred asked incredulously as he tried to imagine Harri living there. He couldn't picture Harri, a down to earth person, living somewhere as extravagant as this mansion.

"No, I only stay here for Christmas. I usually live in a flat in London with Sirius, as I told you earlier. So, are you ready to go in?" Harri replied with a smile as she skipped past the twins and Draco to open the door. Harri smiled at how the manor was decorated. It was literally covered in Christmas decorations. Sirius had way too much time on his hands. Never leave a Marauder by himself for too long, otherwise he'll come up with something.

That was when Harri realized that Sirius hadn't followed her into the house and she immediately ducked as something went flying over her head and right into George's face. It turns out that it was a cream pie that flew over her head. "This whole house is covered in traps isn't it?" Harri questioned her godfather who had just come into the doorway.

"Yep."

"And you're going to be taking pictures of all of this?"

"Yep."

"What are you all doing in the…doorway?" Remus asked curiously, until he saw George whipping cream off his face. Remus turned to his friend in irritation, he couldn't believe that he had done this to the entire house and gave Sirius an incredulous glare.

"Happy Christmas?" he replied unsure of what else to say to his best friend.

"You're lucky that I have patience, otherwise I would smack you with a newspaper, Padfoot," Remus told him rubbing his temples. Remus then raised his wand to summon the pies that had been set across the manor, but instead of pies a note appeared:

**Good try, Moony.**

**~Padfoot**

"Well, I'll show you three to your rooms. I'd suggest watching your step. Sirius has very interesting prank ideas," Harri warned as she led her friends through the house. They dodged three water balloon cannons, a hallway covered in cooking oil, and a stuffed cat that was sitting in the middle of a hallway. Harri told them that Sirius usually had those set to blow up since he hated cats.

Harri and the three boys entered the residential wing of the manor. There were two floors of rooms and they were on the top floor, where there were six rooms, Harri showed the twins to their room and then showed Draco to his that was across the hall.

It was only a few minutes later that a loud shriek could be heard from Harri's room. The boys ran out of their rooms to see the young girl stalking through the hallway soaking wet and covered in glitter. "Sirius!"

Within the next few days the twins, Draco and Harri had found most of Sirius' pranks and it had become a game for them to see who got hit with the least amount of pranks by Christmas. So far Draco was losing terribly because he was at a disadvantage, he hadn't grown up with Sirius or been a prankster himself. Fred and George had each gotten hit with six pranks. Harri had only tripped four...all of them ending in her covered in glitter.

On Christmas morning Harri was greeted with a red head jumping on her bed and knocking her to the floor. "Morning, Harri," George greeted cheekily as he looked down at her from her bed. This was the first time that George had seen her without her glasses on and he nearly laughed as he watched her squint to figure out which twin had woken her up.

"Morning, George. Why did you knock me off my bed?" she asked slightly dazed as she put her hand on her night table and grabbed her glasses.

"Harri, it's Christmas! Fred is waking up Draco right now. Come on, it's time to open gifts together," George told her as he pulled her off the floor.

"Hold on, let me go and get your gifts from my trunk," Harri said waving him away. While Harri was searching for her friends' gifts George was sifting through her night table and pulled out a book.

"Hey, Harri, weren't you and Hermione looking for some bloke named Nicolas Flamel?" he asked reading the book cover.

"Well, yes, but I don't see what that has to do with anything related to my trunk or your Christmas gifts," Harri answered not looking at what her friend was holding.

"You had a book in your night table call: _The Alchemist the Secret of the Immortal Nicolas Flamel_. I read the back and it says something about the elixir of life…" George replied and Harri smacked her head on the top of her trunk as she ran over to the see the book in his hands.

"That's where I had heard his name before! He was famous among muggles for being an alchemist! He created something called the Philosopher's Stone! That's what they're hiding at Hogwarts! What is Dumbledore thinking?" she asked herself as she sat down next to George in shock.

She was going to be doing research in the Potter library for the next few days. "Come on, you can think about this later. It's time that you and I go downstairs, the rest of your family is waiting," George said just loud enough to break Harri out of her reverie. She tackled him and gave him a hug. When she let go of her she extracted her friend's presents from her trunk and motioned for them to go downstairs.

When they got to the sitting room everyone was already there waiting for them. Draco looked like he had been woken up out of a deep slumber and was dragged downstairs, his hair was sticking up in the back and he was yawning.

"You awake there, Draco?" Fred asked poking the blonde boy, nearly giving the boy a heart attack.

"Barely," he muttered rubbing his eyes.

The group exchanged gifts happily. Harri had asked Sirius if he could make mirrors for her new friends and Harri gave the twins one and Draco one. The twins were nearly bouncing off the walls when Harri told them what the mirrors could do. The twins gave Harri free pranking tickets (renewable at any time) with a line for the target of the prank on the bottom. Draco gave her a broom stick locket with a picture of Hermione, Draco and Harri in front of a snow covered tree on the Hogwarts grounds. Sirius gave the twins a prank book, written by him and Remus. Sirius gave Draco a book on how to properly infuriate pure blood parents. He gave his goddaughter a collection of diaries that were once her mother's and Remus gave her the last few Sherlock Holmes books she was missing.

Later that day gifts arrived from Hermione, Tonks and surprisingly there were gifts and letters from Narcissa Malfoy, the gift and a letter for Draco and the other letter went to Sirius. The latter decided to open the letter later. He also decided that it was time for a traditional post-gift snowball fight in the back yard. So, he ushered the kids out of the house, once they got into more appropriate attire, of course. The twins immediately sprinted behind a tree as Draco chucked snow at them, but Harri stayed behind, since she noticed her godfather hadn't also gotten ready to go out with them.

"Everything alright, Sirius? You never pass up on snowball fights," she asked concerned.

"I'm fine, I just need to convince Moony to come out! Go play with your friends," Sirius lied smoothly. He wanted to see what was in that letter his cousin sent him. He knew she had to be desperate to write to him.

Remus was in the sitting room holding the unopened letter from Narcissa in his hand. He had been checking it for curses while Sirius got the preteens ready to play in the snow.

Sirius opened the letter carefully, hoping that it didn't explode or kill him. When it didn't he unfolded the paper and read what his cousin had written to him:

_Sirius Black,_

_I know that this is sudden, but I need you to take care of Draco for me. I have included all the legal documentation. As of right now you are his legal guardian. Of course, I will supply you with money to take care of him. I know I was horrid to you growing up, but you're the only person I could turn to for this. Dark times are ahead of us and I don't think that my house will be safe for my son. I don't want him getting involved with the Dark Lord. If being married to Lucius has taught me anything it's to think ahead. As you probably already know, he-who-shall-not-be -named didn't die when he tried to kill your goddaughter. He's weak and in hiding, his followers aren't sure where he is, but I'd keep Harriet close to you if I were you. From what Draco has told me she sounds like a lovely girl. I wish I could meet her for myself. _

_Keep my son safe,_

_Narcissa Malfoy_

_P.S._

_I haven't told Draco any of this. If you could explain this to him, I would be forever indebted to you. Draco is my world, I don't want him being raised by Death Eaters._

"What does it say?" Remus asked looking at the worried expression on his friend's face.

"Cissy is in a lot of trouble and wants me to take care of Draco for her while she deals with Death Eaters. I better tell Draco," Sirius sighed and rubbed his temples tiredly. He really didn't need this, but he didn't want Draco growing up the way he did. Sirius then went over to the door and opened it. He watched the twins pelt Draco with a few snowballs, while Harri jumped at them from behind and stuffed ice down their backs.

This brought a smile to Sirius' face. He remembered doing things like that with James, Remus and Peter when they were that age. He figured that it was now or never. "Draco, can you come in? There's something that we need to talk about!" Sirius shouted and the blonde jumped in surprise. Sirius noticed that Harri made a motion for Draco to go into the house.

**Hello again, this chapter was fun to write, mostly since it wasn't in the books. I'm going to have to come up with quite a few Christmas scenes and the opening chapters of the different books...oh well, as I said, it's fun! I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. Sirius is always fun to write.**

**Okay, the voting has been narrowed down to the last two, it was a close race between Draco and Charlie and here are the final polls for the last chapter:**

**George: 28**

**Draco: 13**

**and wait for it...**

**Charlie: 13**

**SOOOO, I guess this week's voting is going to be the deciding the competitor to challenge George. So, all current votes won't count and the voting count will start back at zero for Draco and Charlie and they will duke it out in an all out fan war. XD George fans can vote for either of them because next week after the tie break it will be back to 28 for George and 13 for whoever wins.**

**AND someone else has made a correct guess for the other possible person for Hermione. So, both possibilities have been correctly guessed. If anyone else can get it in within the next five chapters then good for you, I'll be giving you a hint for one of them in chapter 10. Remember the prize of guessing this right is, if you want, to be a mentioned character in the story.**

**I hope this gives you enough incentive to REVIEW!**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey, what a horrible week I've had. I had a term paper due. UGH, what a nasty thing to write. It took up so much time I could have spent doing other things.**

**Chapter 9**

**Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor**

The last few days of Harri's holiday were spent throwing snowballs in the backyard with the boys, researching Nicolas Flamel and cheering Draco up. Harri had found out that Draco's mother was leaving him in the care of her godfather till further notice and it didn't seem like Sirius had really given him a good reason for why he wasn't allowed to return home.

"At least you're not living with Snape," Harri reasoned with him one afternoon when he was feeling extremely upset. This brought a halfhearted smile to his face.

"That's true. I can't imagine he'd be good with kids. Thanks for putting up with me," he replied hugging Harri. She patted his head and dragged him off to the library where they were going to look up more on Nicolas Flamel.

From what she could tell the wizarding version and the muggle version of Flamel were extremely similar. She figured that she should write to Hermione soon, but every time she tried the twins would pull her and Draco outside to get fresh air. The twins tried to explain to them that studying over break wasn't healthy and writing to Hermione would only cause them to do more work.

The four of them arrived back at the school the day before the term started. Harri had found Hermione sitting in the common room waiting. She had arrived the day before. "Did you find out anything about Flamel?" she questioned her friend hopefully.

Harri pulled a book out of her backpack and handed it to Hermione. The older of the two girls looked appalled. "How did you not remember who he was? You read a book about him!" she yelled impatiently as she hit Harri's arm with the book. She couldn't believe that she couldn't remember that she didn't remember Nicholas Flamel, she had read it in a book!

"I read that book a long time ago! It was inside my bedside table. The only reason I have it is because George was rummaging through my things," Harri admitted rubbing the back of her neck.

George smiled at the mention of the book. He couldn't believe that she had that in her drawer the entire time.

At that exact moment Neville came hopping into the common room with his legs locked together. The poor boy must have had to hop all the way back to the Gryffindor Tower. Harri ran over to him as fast as possible and preformed the counter-curse and hoped to stop the people in common room from chuckling at him. "Who did this to you?" she asked, though she had a good idea on who it was without Neville telling her. Alya was the only person Harri knew who would do something that low.

"Alya did it. She had said something about wanting to practice the spell she used on me, this is the fourth time she's done it this month," he replied hanging his head in shame.

"Report her!" Hermione urged the poor distraught boy.

"No, I don't want to make matters worse," he answered her looking close to tears.

"Look, Neville, Alya is used to getting whatever she wants. She enjoys stepping on people and causing pain. You have to stand up to her. You were put in Gryffindor for a reason. You're worth at least twelve of Alya Lestrange, if not more," Harri told him as she pulled him off the floor. The teary eyed boy stood up and engulfed Harri in a tight hug. The green eyed girl pulled him away and patted him on the head before he left.

It wasn't till Neville was out of earshot did the girls and the twins begin talking about Flamel again. As it turned out, Harri had written extensive notes on what she had read about Flamel. Hermione couldn't have been more pleased with her friend. "No wonder Snape wants the stone so badly, it grants eternal life and creates gold," Fred commented reading Harri's notes over Hermione's shoulder.

Once the term started Quidditch practice began again. Oliver Wood was in high spirits as the Gryffindor's team trained, even though it was pouring outside and everyone was covered in mud. The twins were worried that Oliver was becoming obsessed with the game.

Harri didn't mind. She wanted the Gryffindor team to win and overtake Slytherin in the house cup. She also might have wanted to see the utter disappointment in Alya's face when she won.

Of course, her happiness was shattered during one especially muddy practice when Oliver was yelling at the twins, who were dive-bombing each other and pretending to fall off their brooms. "Will you two knock it off! This is what is going have us lose! Snape is refereeing the match!"

That was when George actually fell of his broom and ended up getting a face full of mud. "That bias git is refereeing? He's going to be taking points off us left and right so we won't overtake Slytherin!" he shouted as he spit mud out of his mouth.

"That is why we have to play a clean game!" Oliver told him. Harri sighed, there went her chances of seeing Alya's disappointed face. She was going to have to fight for this one.

When Harri got back to the common room she found Hermione watching a chess match between Ron and Draco, who had managed to smuggle himself into the Gryffindor common room, again. "So, what's going on?" Harri asked as she approached the three first years.

"This has been going on for about two hours already. Neither of them is giving an inch," Hermione answered. There had been a feud of chess matches between Ron and Draco for the past few days. Ron and found out that Draco had a talent when it came to chess and challenged him. Ron had lost, but only barely. The twins couldn't believe it when they heard about it. No one could beat Ron at chess. Draco just shrugged it off. He just concentrated on the match and nothing else. Draco had always enjoyed a good chess match and did his best to infuriate Ron by beating him.

Ron's reactions to losing always amused Harri, so she sat down and watched the end of the match. Ron's king was backed into a corner. "Checkmate," Draco said as he moved his queen for his final move.

When the blonde haired first year looked up to see Harri's face he noticed that she looked troubled. "Something up?"

"Your godfather is refereeing the match against Hufflepuff," she replied with a shrug. She still wasn't convinced that he was trying to kill her. From everything she had heard about him she doubted that he would kill her. He might be a spiteful man, but he wasn't a killer.

"Are you sure you still want to play?" Hermione asked her. She was substantially paler than she had been a few moments prior to Harri's announcement.

"Of course, I was raised to never back down from a challenge and this is definitely a challenge," Harri said with a smile. Suddenly playing the game didn't seem that bad.

As the match drew closer she kept running into Snape, but the meetings weren't malicious. He wasn't trying to intimidate her, it was more like he was waiting for something to attack her. She just pretended not to notice.

Potions class was another story. He was a git to her during those weekly lessons, but she made sure that her potions were perfect and her grades reflected that, but he always tried to make her snap so he'd have a reason to yell at her.

And before she knew it, it was time for the match. Harri hadn't really listened to Oliver's pep talk before the match. She was too busy worrying about what Hermione was planning on doing to Snape if something went wrong. That was until Fred pointed out that Dumbledore was watching. She smiled, even if Snape did try anything, which she doubted he would, he wouldn't try anything now that the headmaster was there.

Hermione and Draco were sitting in the stands with Neville waiting nervously for Harri to walk onto the field. Draco noticed that his godfather had suddenly looked angrier than he had a few moments ago. He was about to comment on it, but the match had started. "And they're off," he muttered to himself.

Out of nowhere someone smacked Draco hard on the back of the head, nearly causing him to fall off his seat. He turned around to see his cousin smirking at him. He sent a nasty glare back at her. That was when she got an evil glint in her eyes.

"You know. I think I know how they chose people for the quidditch teams in Gryffindor! It's all about feeling sorry for people. Potter doesn't have any parents, the Weasley twins have no money. Draco, you would be perfect for the team seeing as you don't have any friends or fam-" Draco cut her off by launching himself over the seat as he attacked Alya. He had been in a foul mood all week and just needed an excuse to attack her. Neville jumped into the fight to take on Crabbe and Goyle who were attempted to pry Draco off his cousin.

Hermione wasn't paying attention to anything that was going on around her, she was too busy watching the game. Hermione gasped as Harri went into dive that brought everyone on the stands to their feet. Harri shot past Snape, missing him by inches as she grabbed the snitch. The match hadn't even lasted five minutes and Gryffindor had won.

About half an hour later Harri was getting ready to put her broom away she saw Snape's hooded figure heading for the Forbidden Forest. "That looks sketchy," she commented to herself as she hopped on her broom and silently followed him into the forest.

When Snape got deeper into the forest Quirrell appeared. She listened to them argue with each other. Snape seemed to want to know if the defense teacher had gotten past Fluffy, but why would he be asking that? Did Snape suspect Quirrell of foul play? Sadly, she couldn't hear the entire conversation over the sounds of the animals in the forest. She figured that she shouldn't try her luck and flew back to the castle, only to be questioned by Hermione and Draco. The twins were too busy celebrating Gryffindor's victory to care about the safety of the school.

"So Snape is trying to get Quirrell to tell him how to get past Fluffy? Our stuttering defense teacher is the only hope for the school? It'll be gone by Monday, if not tonight," Hermione said with her head in her hands.

"Or, if you'd listen to Harri, she thinks that Snape is trying to intimidate Quirrell so he doesn't go after the stone," Draco snapped. He was sick of Hermione thinking that she was always right.

"It doesn't matter either way. One of our teachers is after the stone and we have to figure out how to stop them," Harri sighed.

**This was a fun chapter. I like having Harri thinking Snape isn't as bad as everyone makes him out to be. Alya finally made Draco snap, it only took nine chapters. The next chapter isn't gong to be like the original, just saying. All I have to say is poor Neville... **

**So, I have the results of the voting.**

**Charlie: 6**

**and**

**Draco: 10**

**So, Draco will be going against George for the final chapter! Charlie nearly had a comeback, but it seems that the Draco fans pulled through. Anyway, the voting for the final is coming up and someone else has guessed one of the people Hermione might be paired with. Remember George fans that your votes count for him again, so don't vote for Draco if you don't want him to win. =) **

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey, I'm updating a few hours earlier than normal, I have to be somewhere tonight. =)**

**Chapter 10**

**Norbert the Dragon**

Either Quirrell was braver than they thought or Snape wasn't really after the stone and he was keeping Quirrell from it. Though, none of them were thinking about the stone as much as one would think. Hermione had decided to bring up exams, which were ten weeks away.

"Hermione, exams are ages away. You need to calm down, you're going to give yourself an ulcer," Harri told her while she wrote out the last of her transfiguration homework.

"Oh, please. Ten weeks is like a second to Nicolas Flamel!" Hermione argued as she poured over her potions text book.

"Yes, but you aren't six hundred years old! Honestly, you're going to worry yourself sick. You do have some of the best grades in our year," Draco told her while reading a section of his defense book.

"Are you kidding? I should have started studying weeks ago! These exams are what will get us into our second year, they're very important!" Hermione nearly shouted. Harri rolled her eyes. She figured that Hermione wasn't going to get anything less than an E in any subject.

Sadly, the teachers seemed to think the same way as Hermione because they gave piles of homework. Even Fred and George were getting more work than normal. So, the five of them spent their time in library together learning different spells and talking about the goblin wars.

Harri was reading her text book: One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi when she heard Fred call out to someone she never thought she'd see in the library, "Hagrid! What are you doing here?"

The friendly half giant gave a far too innocent look, peeking the curiosity of the five students in front of him.

"Nothing, more importantly, what are you lot up to? Not still looking for Nicolas Flamel, are ya?" he asked, turning the conversation around.

"No, we're doing homework and studying for exams. We found out of Flamel ages ago. We also know what Fluffy is guarding," Harri replied, trying to ruffle Hagrid's feathers.

Her teasing worked, "Don't talk about that here! Come and see me later," he urged, obviously worried about other students finding out about the stone.

"Sure, see later," Harri answered as the half giant quickly walked off with something hidden behind his back.

"Any idea what he had behind his back?" George asked with a questioning gaze towards the section that Hagrid was looking in.

"I'm going to go and check," Draco said as he put his homework down and went over to the section Hagrid was just in, "Dragons! He was looking things up about dragons!"

"You don't think Hagrid has a dragon, do you? It's against the law to breed or own one. Charlie complained about people who have bred dragons. He works with them in Romania," George told the group with a smile. His family had visited him during the Christmas season, but he and George had opted to stay with Harri. They didn't need their parents spending more money on them.

"Well, I think we've read enough. How about we head down and visit Hagrid?" Harri said as she closed her book and packed her bag up.

Nearly an hour later Harri, Draco, Hermione and the twins knocked on Hagrid's door. There was a muffled 'come in' from the other side. Fred opened the door and a rush of heat greeted the group. They all entered the hut to see a large egg sitting in the heart of the fire.

"Hagrid, please tell me that isn't what I think it is…" Fred sighed pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Breeding dragons isn't legal, Hagrid. You can get into a lot of trouble for this," George continued in an exasperated tone.

Hagrid looked sheepishly at the group of young kids. He didn't want anyone to know about the dragon… "Well, I've bin doin' some readin'," said Hagrid, pulling a large book from under his pillow. "Got this outta the library - Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit - it's a bit outta date, o' course, but it's all in here. Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breathe on I em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. An' see here - how ter recognize diff'rent eggs - what I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them."

Hermione and Harri looked at each other and then at Hagrid. "You do realize that you live in a wooden house, right?" they asked him together.

Sadly, Hagrid wasn't listening, all he was doing was stoking the fire. The twins ushered the three first years out with them. George ran a hand through his hair. "I wish Charlie was here, he'd know what to do…"

"Charlie, that's it! George, you're genus! Do you think we could write to your brother about the egg? Maybe he could get it before it hatches and Hagrid's hut burns down! Come on, let's go to the Owlry!" Harri said as she ran over to the older boy and engulfing him in a large hug. George's face flushed in embarrassment because of the younger girl's hug.

Harri dragged George to the Owlry, much to the amusement of Fred and Draco. Hermione watched on with a smile. She told them to hurry back to Gryffindor Tower before curfew.

When the two finished writing the letter, they called Hedwig down from her perch and tied the letter her leg. They watched her fly off into the distance. "Bloody brilliant of you to think of Charlie, I hope he can help," George commented watching the sun set.

"I hope so too. Come on, we might want to get back before Hermione bites our heads off," Harri replied with a mischievous smile.

Harri liked ruffling Hermione's feathers and breaking rules, but she didn't feel like being locked out of her dorm again. As much as she liked the Hogwarts' couches she didn't like sleeping on them all night long.

The two turned around to walk back to the Tower, but they ran into a very familiar Hufflepuff. "Cedric, we really have to stop running into each like this," Harri said ruefully.

"Harri, when did you meet Diggory?" George asked through gritted teeth. It was painfully obvious that he didn't like Cedric, but Harri chose to ignore him for now.

"Hello, Harriet, oh, and one of the Weasley twins, I didn't know you were friends with them. Try not to get into too much trouble Harriet. You two should probably get back to your common room. It's almost curfew, maybe we could all meet again tomorrow in the library. Exams are coming up after all," Cedric offered. He didn't seem to even grasp that George didn't like him.

"I'll see what I can do. See you tomorrow," Harri answered pulling George out of the Owlry.

When the two of them were far enough away from Cedric, George turned toward Harri with a frown. "I'll repeat my previous statement, when did you meet Diggory? He's a prat," George grumbled, his arms were crossed in front of his chest, showing his distain.

"I met him a few weeks ago in the Owlry. It wasn't a big deal, you and Fred will always be my favorite third years," she reassured her friend with a wink.

Over the next few days, while the group was waiting for a reply for Charlie, they were getting to know Cedric during their study sessions in the library. It seemed like he was going to be the Head Boy in his year, so naturally he was getting along with Hermione. Draco didn't mind him all that much, he didn't shun him like most of the students at Hogwarts did, but he was just a little too friendly for his liking. The twins on the other hand were wary of him because Cedric liked to follow to rules.

It was early on morning when Hedwig came flying into the Great Hall at breakfast did they get a reply from Charlie and a note from Hagrid.

_**Dear Fred and George,**_

_** What have you two gotten yourselves into this time? I love you both dearly, but you always manage to find trouble. So, Hagrid has a dragon egg…I do have some time off this week. I'll try and visit Hogwarts and take dragon off his hands.**_

_**See you soon,**_

_**Charlie**_

"Oh, thank goodness! Charlie will solve this problem for us," Fred said with a sigh of relief.

"There seems to be a note from Hagrid as well. I just hope that it's good news," Hermione mumbled as she grabbed the second letter and read it: **It's Hatching.**

For the rest of the morning the twins debated with Hermione whether they should just skip their morning lessons and go straight down to Hagrid's hut to watch a once in a lifetime experience.

Harri and Draco knew better than to fight with Hermione and agreed to go after their morning classes. "Honestly, how many times are we going to see a dragon hatch?" Draco asked Hermione on their way to their last lesson of the morning.

"Shut up, your cousin is trying to listen," Harri hissed as she clamped her hand over Draco's mouth and dragged him and Hermione in the opposite direction of the first year Slytherin. To many the sight of Harri dragging Draco away with her hands coving the majority of face would cause alarm, but the first year students had gotten used to the strange relationship between Hermione Granger, Harriet Potter and Draco Malfoy. Only when Alya was out of earshot did Harri uncover Draco's mouth. The blonde shot her a glare that could make a grown man cringe in fear, but Harri just smirked and headed towards Herbology, with Hermione following her friend as she tried not to laugh.

The one thing that Harri noticed was Alya continuously watching her throughout the morning. "For a Slytherin she isn't very stealthy, is she?" Harri commented part way through her Herbology lesson. Hermione chuckled lightly beside her friend.

Once Herbology ended they went back into the castle to find Draco, only to find out that he was at the entrance of the castle with the twins. Harri saw Alya out of the corner of her eye as they left to see the egg hatch.

"Do you think she heard anything?" Hermione asked worriedly before they entered the hut.

"I think she did, I mean she's been following us all morning," Draco grumbled. He really hated his cousin. She was too nosy for her own good.

When they got into the hut they were greeted by a very excited Hagrid. "It's nearly out!"

When the spotted the egg it was on the table and had deep cracks in it. There seemed to be noises coming from the inside of it. Suddenly, there was a very loud scrapping noise and the egg cracked open completely. The dragon rolled out of discarded pieces of shell and landed on its back on the table. Harri didn't think the dragon wasn't ugly, she thought it was cute…for a small monstrosity that in a few weeks would be the size of Hagrid's hut. Its wings were twice the size of its body, it had a rather long snout, it had tiny stubs for horns, and had angry red-orange eyes.

The little dragon sniffed the table before sneezing. A few sparks flew out of its mouth and Harri tried not to coo.

"Hagrid, you do realize that dragons grow quickly don't you?" Draco questioned him concerned. Sure, the dragon was tiny and relatively harmless now, but in about two weeks it would be huge.

Hagrid was about to answer when the color drained from his face. He ran towards the window.

"Hagrid, what's wrong?" Fred asked sounding concerned for his friend while he warily watched the dragon pace on the table.

That was when Harri moved in front of Hagrid and looked out the window. She saw Alya's retreating form running back up to school.

"Draco, next time, we're hexing your cousin when she tries to follow us all day," Harri said completely serious. She couldn't believe they hadn't noticed the curtains were open. They had been so careful the whole day to make sure she didn't see anything suspicious.

When Charlie didn't come the next day they were worried that Alya was going to tell someone about the dragon or hold it over their heads, but instead all she did was smirk and walk away. That bothered Harriet more than her doing something about the dragon.

It was later that afternoon when the twins and Harri went to visit Hagrid did they see Charlie talking to Hagrid outside of his hut in hushed tones. "Hagrid, you have to give me Norbert. He's going to go to a nice reserve, you did realize that you wouldn't be able to keep him, right? It's illegal to own one after all," Charlie reasoned with him. When he spotted the twins and Harri he waved figuring that they were coming to see the dragon.

The twins practically jumped onto their older brother, almost knocking him over. When Harri came closer he realized that she was the girl that the twins had pushed over in Diagon Alley.

"Thank you for contacting me, boys. Who's your friend?" he asked since the twins hadn't said anything about her in their letter. She seemed to be younger than them and he just hoped that the twins hadn't been giving her a hard time.

"Charlie, this is Harriet Potter. We stayed with her over Christmas break while mum, dad, Ginny and Ron went to see you," George replied with a grin at his brother's shock over the fact that they were friends with Harriet Potter.

"Are you really Harriet Potter?" Charlie asked the young girl in front of him. She nonchalantly took off her glasses and cleaned them on her shirt. Charlie got the full brunt of her green eyed gaze, even if it was slightly unfocused because she couldn't see well.

"All day every day," she answered with a sly grin as she placed her glasses back on her face.

Within the next fifteen minutes the Weasley twins managed to convince Hagrid to let Charlie take away the dragon, which turned out to be a Norberta, not a Norbert like Hagrid had originally thought.

It wasn't till later that night when the twins were planning a prank did Neville come running into the common room looking around for something frantically. "Is something wrong Neville?" Harri asked her fellow first year, her head was hanging off the side of the couch.

"I can't seem to find Trevor!" He nearly shouted in reply. Harri sighed. Neville was always losing his toad, but then again, it seemed like the toad had a personal vendetta against the poor boy.

"Neville, don't worry. Fred, George and I will go and look for your toad. You can stay in the common room and wait for us." Harri grabbed the Marauder's Map and her invisibility cloak just in case they couldn't find the toad. Since the map showed her everyone on the map she hoped it would show her where Trevor was, luckily it did, but he was all the way in the astronomy tower.

"How does that toad keep running away?" George asked from over her shoulder as he read the map.

"Not sure, we might as well get him," Harri replied as she closed the map and left the common room with the twins.

Ten minutes later they found Trevor croaking on the floor in the astronomy tower. George picked up the toad gently and the three made their way down towards the common room quietly, that was, until they ran into a very angry looking Filch.

"What are you three doing out of bed?" he questioned the trio, his arms crossed with an evil glint in his eyes. The three of the gulped, they were in trouble, they should have worn the cloak, so much for safety measures.

**I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! I'm going to be breaking from the regular story slightly in the next chapter. It's crazy that I'm almost done with the first book already. Speaking of finishing the books I'm going to be updating a bit more soon. I'm just about done with school, so I should be able to write more often now. =)**

**So, thank you all so much for all the reviews on the last few chapters and all the chapters before! Okay so someone else guessed who Hermione might be paired with. It's almost time for the polls to close on who Harri is going to be paired with. Here's the poll:**

**George: 47**

**Draco: 16**

**Well I can see who the fans are leaning towards...XD**

**Continue to vote for your favorite couple. Charlie almost caught up at one point, maybe Draco might as well if the George fans slack even a little bit.**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter**


	11. Chapter 11

**So, here is the next chapter! See you all at the bottom!**

**Chapter 11**

**Detention **

Filch took them straight to McGonagall's office. The twins and Harri stood casually outside her door. They had a valid reason to be out of bed. Neville's toad could have gotten killed!

When McGonagall opened the door she already had a scowl on her face. That was when they knew that they were in a lot more trouble than they originally thought.

"Why were you in the astronomy at one in the morning!" she nearly shouted at the trio. She had expected this of the Weasley twins, but not of Harriet. She had thought she was more like her mother…not a trouble maker like her father.

"Would you believe that we were rescuing a toad?" Fred asked hopefully. The glare his head of house gave him was enough of an answer.

"First I find a Slytherin out of bed and now you three, never have I had to deal four students out of bed!" McGonagall replied. Harri could tell that her transfigurations professor was lying through her teeth. Her father and his friends had been caught out of bed multiple times.

"Professor, we were rescuing a toad for a friend! He couldn't find it anywhere and no one knows like school like the Weasley twins. It took us forever to find the poor thing," Harri said, trying to reason with her.

McGonagall narrowed her eyes at her first year student. She knew Harri's father many years ago and he and his friends had caused her a lot of trouble. She didn't want Harri following in her father's footsteps and seeing her out of bed crushed all her hopes that she wouldn't have a second generation of Marauders.

"Where is this toad you keep telling me about?" she asked completely serious because she really doubted that they had one.

"George, show her the toad," Harri urged. George pulled out Trevor from his robe pocket and showed it McGonagall.

The transfigurations professor sighed. "I'll be taking forty points from each of you for being out of bed. Now, get out of my sight before I take more points from you."

The twins and Harri left her office feeling incredibly disheartened. They had nearly lost the entire lead from the quidditch match in one night, all for helping Neville. When they got back to the common room they handed Neville his toad and explained to him what had happened. The young boy was horrified that because of his toad they had lost all of those points.

"I'm so sorry that I caused all that trouble…everyone is going to be so mad at you in the morning," Neville apologized, nearly in tears. Harri kept telling him that he didn't need keep saying sorry. They were the ones that got caught, not him.

"If only I hadn't been distracted by Alya, she had been bothering me all day about how I lose Trevor so often…" Neville said in a disappointed voice. He took one last look at the trio and ran up the stairs to boy's dorms.

"See you tomorrow, Harri. We're going to be in a lot of trouble with the rest of our house tomorrow," Fred told her as George ruffled her hair.

Harri bid the twins goodnight and went to give Hermione the bad news. She had been right in a certain sense. They did get caught after hours and they did get in trouble, but it was strange. Filch never patrols that area of the castle at that time of night. It was almost as if he got tipped off…that was when the realization struck Harri. Alya had set everything up, but Filch had turned on her and turned her into McGonagall.

She was beyond mad, that snake was trying to set Neville up! Harri stormed up the girl's staircase and ran into her room. Hermione was jarred awake when Harri flung the door open.

"What's going on? It's nearly two in the morning, Harri," Hermione groaned tiredly as she looked at the time. Hermione was sick and tired of being woken up at ungodly hours by her friend.

"Alya tried to set Neville up and get him caught by Filch by making him look for his toad! Instead, Fred, George and I went off and got caught by him and he took us to McGonagall! She took 120 points from Gryffindor! Ugh, how could we have been so stupid?" Harri ranted to her best friend.

"Why would she take that much away for just finding you out after hours? Isn't the normal amount for that infraction is 20 points? She doubled it!" Hermione questioned appalled by their head of house.

"She did it because she thinks I'm turning into my father. He caused a lot of trouble back in his Hogwarts days," Harri replied as she sat down on her bed. She felt like screaming and crying at the same time. Why did people always compare her to her parents? All it did was make her want to tear her hair out, she wasn't her parents.

"Oh, well, it wasn't really your fault, you were just trying to help Neville. Go to sleep. It'll be better in the morning," Hermione mumbled falling back asleep as her head hit the pillow. Harri changed and climbed into bed herself, but instead of going to sleep she decided to plan her revenge on Alya and this time she and the twins wouldn't be caught.

In the morning the twins and Harri waited for the initial anger of the house to hit them when they all entered the great hall and saw that Gryffindor had lost 120 points in one night. When they weren't jumped by angry house mates they crept into the great hall only hear from Hermione that Neville told the entire house it was his fault they had lost all those points, not Fred, George and Harri, who had gone after his toad in the middle of the night.

Harri gave Neville a hug to show that she wasn't really mad at him, but the rest of the house had ostracized him. Harri wasn't going to have that, since Neville was usually picked on worse than any other first year in the school. So, she included him in everything she did.

"We'll gain the points back, Neville. No need to worry about it," Harri told him on their way to Herbology the next day. They team still had one more quidditch match to play and Harri planned on catching that snitch if it killed her.

After everything was explained to the quidditch team as to why all those points were lost all was forgiven. Harri and the twins got a bit of cold treatment from some of their housemates, Fred and George had to sleep on the couches in the common room because their dorm mates kicked them out till they got all the points they lost back. Harri was dodging hexes from older students in revenge for giving Slytherin such a big lead in points. Harri took it all in stride, people's opinions were fickle at best and she knew that it would all blow over in a few weeks.

It wasn't until the night before their detention that they cornered Alya in an abandoned corridor. The first year Slytherin was back up against the wall between Harri, Fred and George. "So, I heard that you set us up," Harri began as she twirled her wand between her fingers. Her green eyes were flashing dangerously and it was worrying the first year Slytherin.

"It was supposed to be Longbottom wandering the halls aimlessly, not you. I'm just glad that you're the one that lost all those points you gained. Its poetic justice," Alya sneered as she brought her own wand up to try and defend herself, but Fred just plucked the wand right out of her hand.

"Stop picking on Neville, Alya, or you'll be sorry," Harri warned as she put her wand down and turned away from the other girl.

"Not enough backbone to hex me? Didn't your parents teach you not to back down from a fight, oh wait, I forgot, mummy and daddy are dead, aren't they Potter? What a pity, they couldn't see their daughter grow up to be coward," Alya jeered hoping to get a rise out of Harri. She didn't disappoint.

The first year Gryffindor spun around and grabbed Alya by the collar of her robes and pushed her against the wall, her fist inches from the Slytherin's face, Harri's magic was creating visible sparks in the air around them. Fred and George backed away slowly, they didn't want to get caught in the crossfire. "If you ever insult my family again I will not hesitate to punch you," Harri said through gritted teeth. This time she turned around and walked into the next corridor.

Fred, on the other hand, threw Alya's wand in the opposite direction they were leaving in. George went after Harri to make sure that she was alright and when he saw her rubbing her eye, her hair had come loose from her usual braid and she seemed like she was falling apart. George quickly walked over to her put his arm around her shoulders.

"Harri, are you alright? You know what she said isn't true," George told her as he patted her back.

"I'm fine. I get headaches when I lose control of my magic, I feel a migraine coming on," she mumbled as she put her glasses back on to reveal her bright green eyes.

"Glad to know that you weren't crying…I'm not good with crying girls," George commented offhandedly, making Harri giggle.

"Okay, let's head back to common room. Fred's probably wondering where we've gone," Harri told him as she pulled him down the hallway towards the common room. On their way back they heard Quirrell crying in a classroom. Neither could believe that they had such a wimpy teacher. He seemed to have finally cracked. He was in tears in his classroom muttering, "Alright- alright, I'll do it."

George grabbed Harri by the collar of her shirt and dragged her back to the common room. "Your curiosity if going to get you killed," George mumbled as he pulled her down the hallway.

When they finished telling Hermione and Fred what they heard Quirrell say Hermione was having a major panic attack. "What if Snape is going after the stone now? What if something is happening now? We have to go to Dumbledore and tell him!"

"Hermione, we don't have any proof. I have a feeling even if we did go to Dumbledore we'd still have to explain how we knew about the stone in the first place," George reasoned with the hysterical first year.

Hermione gave up and went back to doing her homework, she didn't completely drop the subject either. She kept hinting at the impending danger to Harri every time she had the chance.

The next morning Harri and the twins got their letter telling them where their detention was:

_Your detention will take place at eleven o'clock tonight._

_Meet Mr. Filch in the entrance hall._

_~Professor McGonagall_

Harri figured that she should probably tell Sirius about her first detention, she wasn't sure if he'd be proud or not since she got caught over something as trivial as a rescuing a toad.

It was at eleven that night when they met Filch at the entrance hall. She noticed that Alya was already there waiting next to Filch and when Harri approached them the first year Slytherin took two steps back. Obviously, Alya wasn't in the mood to get on Harri's bad side.

The caretaker led them to the edge of the forbidden forest with a grin on his face. Harri could tell that he was enjoying this way too much. She could tell that he wanted the dangerous creatures in the forest to rip them apart.

Harri looked around, she hadn't really seen what the school was like after dark. The grounds were still beautiful, even if she couldn't see very much of it. Harri was enjoying the cold night air on her face and the dim light the crescent moon was giving off.

When they reached the forbidden forest Harri could make out Hagrid standing there waiting for them. She felt a smile creep onto her face, as long as she was with Hagrid in the forest things would be okay. She thought that Filch was going to be in charge of their detention. Obviously, Filch caught the relieved look in her eyes because a nasty grin spread on his face. "Don't get your hopes up girl. You're still going into the forest. You'll be lucky if you come out in one piece."

"We can't go into the forest! There are werewolves in there!" Alya shouted angrily. Harri rolled her eyes. There weren't werewolves in the forest…anymore.

"There you are!" Hagrid said when he finally saw them. Filch didn't seem too pleased with the friendly demeanor Hagrid was displaying with them, but the Weasley twins just went over to Hagrid in them same kind of laid back manor. Filch nearly growled as he left. The Weasley twins always knew how to get under authority figures skins.

"We aren't really going into the forest, are we?" Alya asked with a worried glint in her eyes.

"Ah, but we are, just hope the werewolves don't eat you!" Fred teased the girl that put them in the detention in the first place. Alya seemed honestly scared about the idea of werewolves and it almost made Harri laugh.

"Alright, follow me, I have something to show you," Hagrid told them leading them to the beginning of the forest where there was some silvery liquid splattered on the ground splitting in two different directions. Harri gasped in horror she recognized it as unicorn blood.

"Who would hurt a unicorn?" she questioned Hagrid. The giant man had a frown on his face.

"Not sure, but we're going to find this one and hopefully we won't have to put it out of its misery. First we're going to split up into two groups. Fred you can go with Alya and Fang an' Harriet you can go with George and me," Hagrid told them with finality.

"If anyone finds the unicorn send up green sparks, if you're in trouble send up red sparks."

So, the two groups of three went into the forest in hopes of locating the injured unicorn. It wasn't fifteen minutes later that Harri heard a stream in the distance, she was about to point it out when there was rustling in a nearby bush. Hagrid lifted Harri and George off the ground and put them in the branches of an oak tree.

"You two stay back," Hagrid told them as he raised his crossbow. They waited a few moments, but the sound drifted off into the distance.

"Something is here that shouldn't be," Hagrid said as he lowered his crossbow and motioned for the two of them to come down from the tree.

"Not a werewolf?" George asked with a hint of a smile. He was trying to lighten the mood around him, but it wasn't really working.

"It isn't a full moon, there wouldn't even be any werewolves around and doubt it was the unicorn either," Harri replied as she strained to hear the noise.

They walked no less than five passes to their left when they heard another noise. Hagrid set his crossbow up and was ready to fire at whatever came after them. "Show yourself, I'm armed!"

What came out of the trees wasn't something any of them expected, it was a man with a horse's body, it was a centaur. He had long red hair and beard with a chestnut body and dark red tail. George and Harri stood there with their mouths hanging open.

"Sirius is going to be so jealous when I tell him about this," Harri whispered to George who had to try not to laugh at her comment.

"Ah, Ronan, there is something out in the forest killing the unicorns, I can't be too careful. This is Harriet Potter and George Weasley. You two, this is Ronan, he's a centaur," Hagrid told them excitedly. He was obviously proud of his friendship with him.

"Students, do you learn much at the school?" he asked the two of them curiously.

"A bit," Harri told him in awe, she had only read about centaurs. Hermione was going to flip out when she told her about the centaur later.

"If you only learned a bit then everyone at Hogwarts must be bloody idiots," George snorted from beside her.

"Well, a bit is something." He sighed and then looked up at the sky. "Mars is bright tonight."

"Ronan, we're in a bit of a hurry, have you seen a unicorn?" Hagrid asked with urgency.

"The innocent are always the first victims…as it has always been," he replied with a dreamy look in his eyes.

"Yes, but have you seen anything unusual?" Hagrid pressed further hoping for more than just riddles from the centaur.

"Mars is unusually bright tonight," he replied again. Hagrid sighed and brought his crossbow up again when he heard the bushes rustle again. Another centaur came out, this one looked much wilder than the other one, he had black hair and black body to match.

"Hullo, Bane," Hagrid greeted the new centaur. He nodded an acknowledgement and gazed at George and Harri with curious eyes.

"I've been asking Ronan if he's seen anything unusual, a unicorn has been injured," Hagrid said to Bane hoping for a reply.

"Mars is unusually bright tonight," he said simply. Hagrid looked as if he wanted to smack his head against the nearest tree.

The two centaurs trotted off after that. Hagrid was grumbling over their lack of help and led them to another clearing. Harri had the feeling they were being watched by something and kept looking over her shoulder, but she never saw anything.

"Hagrid, are those red sparks in the distance?" George asked squinting into the distance.

"You two wait here," Hagrid ordered before running off into the distance where the sparks had come from.

The two waited for a few minutes before George finally spoke, "Do you think Fred is okay?"

"You'd probably know if something happened to your twin brother. Don't worry he's fine," Harri soothed him when she felt something watching them again. Then she heard the quiet snap of a twig that was when she knew she had to get them out of there.

"Come on, I feel like we're being watched and I think that the trail of blood is getting thicker a little father up," Harri said pulling George in the opposite direction the snapping twig. They walked for nearly a half hour following the trail of thickening silver blood when they finally reached a clearing through the dense trees. They had finally found the unicorn, but it was already dead.

Harri put her arm in front of George to stop him from walking any closer to the dead creature. She had felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up and she pushed George back behind a tree as they watched something slither over to the unicorn. It seemed to be a hooded figure and he did the most repulsive thing Harri had ever seen, he bent over the dead unicorn and drank its blood. George took a step back and motioned for them to leave quietly, but he stepped on a rather large branch and snapped it, he fell to the ground making a loud thump, he was gripping his ankle in pain, though he tried not to make any more noise. The sounds he made echoed throughout the forest and the hooded figure turned to the two of them, his face dripping with unicorn blood, and stalked swiftly over to them. Neither of them seemed to be able to move as he approached them and something happened that had never happened to Harri before.

Her scar began to burn with a pain that she'd never felt before, it felt like it was on fire. She staggered backwards trying to get away, but it was like she moving in slow motion. No matter how far back she moved he would come closer and the pain in her head wasn't helping her think. The pain was getting so back that she could barely see. That was when she heard hooves come galloping from behind her.

Suddenly, a centaur jumped clean over her and landed between her and the hooded figure. Harri fell to the ground in pain holding her head in her hands. George scooted over towards her resting his hand on her shoulder. It took about two minutes till her headache subsided.

"Are you two alright?" the centaur asked. Both of them looked up to see a centaur much younger than Bane or Ronan. He had pale blonde hair and a palomino body, his eyes were like pale sapphires.

"We are thanks to you. Do you know what that creature was that attacked the unicorn?" she asked as she got up shakily. She leaned her head against the tree behind her as a wave of nausea passed. George attempted to get up as well, but as soon as he put weight on his left foot he nearly fell over again.

Harri gave her hand to him to help him stand up and he leaned on her slightly to keep himself upright.

The centaur studied them closely before speaking again, "You're the Potter girl? You shouldn't be in the forest, it's dangerous for you. I should get you back to Hagrid, neither of you seem like you can walk there by yourself, do you think you could ride?"

"My name is Firenze," he added as they got onto his back. They road on his back for a few minutes watching the dark trees fly past them when they heard more galloping come from the sides. It seemed the Ronan and Bane had caught up with them.

"Firenze, have you no shame? Letting humans ride on your back!" Bane shouted at the younger centaur.

"This is no ordinary human, this is the Potter girl! You know of her destiny, she needs to get out of this forest as soon as possible," Firenze replied.

"I'm sure Firenze thought it was for the best, Bane," Ronan said as he tried to mediate between the two.

Firenze gave them a scandalized look, "For the best? Did you not see the unicorn, Bane? It was killed. Have you learned nothing from the planets?"

Firenze reared up on his back legs, Harri had to grab onto Firenze's shoulders not to fall off and George had to hold onto her. After his burst of anger the young centaur galloped through the trees away from the elder two. It was obvious to Harri that the centaurs didn't like to be treated as animals and Firenze must have committed a disgrace among them to let her and George ride on his back.

"Do you have any idea what that was back in the clearing?" George asked when Firenze slowed down.

"Do you know what unicorn blood is used for?" he asked in reply. Harri and George shook their heads.

"We've only used their tails and horns in potions and sometimes the hair is used in wand cores," Harri answered for the both of them.

"It is used only when the other has nothing left to gain. It is an atrocious act to kill a unicorn. To kill a pure and innocent creature like them…unicorn blood can bring those on the brink of death back to life, but it will be only half a life, a cursed life," he explained. Harri wondered who would have been out in the forest that desperate for life. The only person she could think of was Voldemort, but how would he have gotten into the forbidden forest in the first place? Right before she asked Firenze what he thought Hagrid burst into view with Fred and Alya behind him.

Firenze stopped and let them get off his back. Harri got off first and then tried to help George get off without having him fall. He really needed to get his ankle checked over.

"George, Harri, are you two alright?" Fred asked worriedly when he noticed George wasn't standing on his own.

"Rolled my ankle on a tree branch," he answered offhandedly. Fred walked over and took George's arm and slung it over his shoulder so his brother could balance himself.

"Good luck, Harriet Potter. Mars is unusually bright these days," he told her before galloping back into the forest.

By the time the trio had gotten back from the hospital wing with George's ankle in working order again it was nearly dawn. All three of them passed out on the common room couches and slept till the following morning.

George pulled Harri aside before breakfast to ask her about the man in dark cloak, since the image wouldn't leave his mind no matter how hard he tried to forget it. "Harri, do you have any idea who that was in the clearing?"

"I'm nearly positive it was Voldemort. I was going to wait to tell you, Fred, Hermione, and Draco together, but you beat them to it. I just hope that I'm wrong," Harri explained as she ran a nervous hand through her hair.

"Are you positive it was him?" Draco asked Harri in a deserted hallway an hour later with Hermione and the twins.

"Yes, and now everything that's happened makes sense. Voldemort wants the stone to gain enteral life. I don't know how I didn't see it before," Harri answered worried.

"If the unicorn blood is giving him strength how long before he goes after the stone?" Fred questioned no one in particular, but he could tell that the question rattled the entire group. None of them knew the answer and that was what was worrying them.

"Did you talk to you godfather about this?" Hermione asked her roommate hoping that Sirius had given some sort of advice.

"I can't, he's on a mission for the ministry right now. He never takes the mirror with him on those," Harri replied not liking their odds at all.

"We might as well head to class. I doubt Voldemort will come jumping out at us with Dumbledore around," Draco said defiantly. Hermione gasped at him for using his name and the twins rolled their eyes at her theatrics. Harri gave Draco a hug and pulled him off to their next class, leaving Hermione behind them.

"At least he's not afraid of a name," Harri sang as Hermione ran to catch up to them.

**Someone asked me to put more detail in my chapters...the chapter ended up 2,000 words longer than normal. XD So, I hope you all liked the chapter. This was personally one of my favorite chapters to write, if not my favorite chapter. And there was one comment in the reviews that I think needs to be answered. Someone wasn't happy with the fact that I had them get caught and put into detention...and at first I wasn't going to have them get caught, but then I realized that this chapter would have never happened and I think that this was a rather important chapter in the first book, for one they meet the centaurs and two you get to see Voldemort for the first time. ****I hope for any of those people that like me to stray from the books understands my reasoning for having them get caught.**

**Thank you for all the people who have review, favorite, and alerted to this story, it means a lot to me, so please keep it up!**

**Okay, now to the voting:**

**George: 58**

**Draco: 18**

**Well, if a miracle happens Draco might catch up...two chapter till I reveal who Harri is going to end up with. I think you'll like the way I sneak it in. =)**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello, I'm uploading a little earlier in the day today...mostly because I have to clean the house and that is never fun. I'll see you at the bottom!**

**Chapter 12**

**Through the Trapdoor**

Harri decided to focus on her exams as much as possible within the last few weeks of her school term. Draco and Hermione seemed to have an easier time concentrating on them than she was since she had splitting migraines the entire time. Still, she figured she did well on both the written and practical exams.

The practical exam in charms was to make a pineapple dance across a desk. It was entertaining to watch Ron nearly set his on fire. Seamus actually managed to set his on fire, much to the entertainment of the class. Hermione nearly lost her concentration when that happened. Luckily, Harri nudged her and brought her back to her test.

Transfiguration was the easiest exam for Harri. She finished with over thirty minutes left on the written exam. For the practical part of the exam she had to transfigure a mouse into a snuffbox, which was as simple as a flick of the wrist for her. She made sure to put emeralds on her snuffbox because it was McGonagall's favorite gem and color. She hoped that acing the exam would put her back in her head of house's good graces.

The potions exam was an interesting endeavor, considering Snape made them brew a forgetfulness potion. The potion fumes make people forget what they were trying to do in the first place. So, Harri didn't breathe in the fumes like most of the other students did. It seemed that Hermione was breathing in fumes because she kept looking back at the board and then looking back at her potion. Harri figured that Snape did this on purpose to either try and fail his students, or teach them to remember to never breathe right over their potions. Potion fumes can be toxic and Harri supposed that this could be considered a lesson in potion making.

The only problem she had was not falling asleep during her History of Magic exam, since she hadn't been able to sleep the past few days because of nightmares of the forest and the hooded figure that tried to attack her.

She and George were spending a lot of time together talking on the couch in the middle of the night due to the same haunting figure in their dreams. Fred would always come down in the morning to see them asleep together in front of the fire. Harri would be leaning on George's shoulder and George would be drooling slightly on Harri's head, much to the younger girl's disgust.

She finished her history of magic exam with fifteen minutes to spare, after she finished her last sentence on exploding caldrons.

When the papers were collected by Binns everyone cheered, including Hermione, even though she would never admit it. The two of them made their way down to the Great Lake where they met up with the Weasley twins and Draco. They all decided to sit under a large tree together to stay out of the harsh sun.

Every time Hermione would bring up their exams one of the twins would put their hand over her mouth and tell her to let it be.

While the twins were quieting Hermione down Draco was watching Harri, who was rubbing her scar with a scowl on her face. "Is your scar still bothering you? Has Sirius come back from his Auror mission so you could talk to him about it?" he asked worried. He hated seeing Harri so uncomfortable and troubled and he knew it wasn't healthy for her.

"No, I haven't heard from him. I asked Remus about my scar, since he'd probably know more about it than Sirius, but he hasn't gotten back to me. I have a feeling that danger is coming, but I could be wrong," Harri answered as she pulled some grass out of the ground underneath her.

"Harri, you need to calm down. Dumbledore won't let anything happen to stone. No one knows how to get past Fluffy," Fred said trying to calm her down a little bit. His comment did the opposite though. Harri's head shot up from staring at the grass.

"Don't you think that it was too perfect that Hagrid got that dragon egg right after the troll came in and Snape got his leg bit by Fluffy? I'm nearly positive that Hagrid was slightly drunk when he got the egg. Whoever gave him that egg knows how to get past the dog! Fred, do you think you can go and confirm that with Hagrid? George is going to show us where to find Dumbledore. Meet back in the common room in twenty minutes?" she said hurriedly. Why hadn't she thought of this earlier?

Fred nodded his head and ran in the direction that Hagrid's hut was in. The rest of them ran into the school and went straight towards Dumbledore's office when they ran into McGonagall.

"What are you four doing inside on a day like this?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"We need to see Dumbledore," Draco told her bravely.

"You want to see Professor Dumbledore?" McGonagall repeated incredulously. She couldn't believe the nerve of these students.

"Professor, it's about the Sorcerer's Stone. Someone is going to try and steal it!" Harri nearly yelled. She couldn't believe that her professor wouldn't take her seriously. McGonagall's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when she heard her mention the Sorcerer's Stone.

"I don't know how you found out about the stone, but I assure you no one is going to steal it. As for Professor Dumbledore, he left about ten minutes ago on ministry business," she said dismissing the conversation as she walked off.

Harri nearly growled in anger when her transfiguration teacher ignored their pleas for help.

She flared her nostrils and leaned on the wall behind her. "It's going to happen tonight, after Dumbledore is long gone. We need to stop him," Harri told them as they made their way to the common room.

"By the time they got back Fred was already there waiting for them. "Hagrid did tell the man how to get past the dog. It's music, all you have to do is play music and it will fall asleep," he explained with a frown.

"We need a plan of action," Draco told them logically a few minutes later. Hermione and Harri couldn't agree more.

"Fred and George, I think that you two should try and get the teacher's attention, no one can do that as well as you can. Get McGonagall to help you no matter what," Harri ordered. The twins gave her a mock salute and they all sprang into action.

Harri ran to her room and grabbed a piece of her broken bed post and transfigured it into a flute, she just hoped that it sounded like a flute. "Harri, if you did half of the transfiguration in class that you do in the common room McGonagall might move you up a year," Hermione told her while she was inspecting the flute.

"Somehow I doubt that," Harri replied with a shrug. She never thought about skipping grades. She figured that it would be more work than she'd be willing to do. She might be a good student, but she didn't want to have to deal with more homework.

"Can we talk about this later? We have a school to save after all," Draco reminded the two girls. He plucked the flute from Hermione's hand and led them out of the common room.

The three first years got under the invisibility cloak and entered the third floor corridor. They opened the door and saw a harp sitting on the ground, Fluffy was already awake with all three of its heads looking at the trio. Harri jabbed Draco in the gut with her elbow. The blonde winced, sent a glare at his friend and lifted the flute to his lips. As soon as he played a note the beast's eye lids began to droop and within a few seconds he was sound asleep.

Being a pureblood heir Draco had to lean an instrument and luckily Harri's transfiguration skills were good enough that she could make a decent flute for him to play.

"Keep playing, Hermione and I will open the trapdoor," Harri said as she pulled Hermione towards the door and away from the three headed dog's faces. The two girls gingerly stepped over the dog's giant paw and made their way towards the ring that was the door's handle. Harri pulled it up and the trapdoor was open, but they couldn't see anything in the darkness below.

"See anything down here?" Draco asked between playing different notes to keep Fluffy asleep.

"No, it's too dark. I'm going to jump in. If I don't say to jump, assume the fall killed me and don't follow," Harri told them completely serious. She put her legs over the edge of the trapdoor letting them dangle for a moment.

Hermione gave her friend a horrified look and before she could say anything Harri jumped into the dark pit. Air rushed past her quickly as she fell, for a few seconds she worried that the fall would kill her, but she landed on something soft. She ran her finger across the object she landed on and figured it was a plant by its texture. She didn't know what kind of plant it was, but she figured it was now or never. "I'm alright, I landed on something soft, hurry up," Harri called up to her friends. Hermione was the next one to jump down and landed right next to her. Draco came seconds later, the flute still in his hand.

"Any idea what we landed on?" Harri asked quickly feeling a root grab her leg tightly. She noticed that Hermione was completely still, but the plant had already snaked around her legs and was moving up her torso.

"Devils Snare, I wish I paid more attention in Herbology. Do you have any idea how to kill it?" Draco shouted as he jumped towards the far wall, flute forgotten, and wand pointed towards the plant. Hermione was struggling to keep the plant away from her, not paying attention to Draco's question. She watched in horror as the plant picked up the flute and snapped it in half.

Harri noticed that the plant had reached her chest and was starting to squeeze. That was when she remembered the lessons she had with Neville on Herbology earlier in the year. "Light a fire!" Harri gasped as the devils snare made its way towards her neck.

Draco waved his wand and a familiar blue flame that Hermione had used earlier in the year came out of it. The devil's snare let go immediately, dropping the three first years to the next level of the school.

Harri noticed that Hermione was kneeling on the ground trying to catch her breath. So, being the concerned friend she was, she went over to check on her. "Are you alright?" she asked helping Hermione up.

"Yea, we better keep moving," she said pushing her friend's helping hands away and moved herself towards the next chamber. Draco gave Harri a confused look, since that was so out of character for Hermione, but they shrugged it off as nothing.

As they approached the next area they heard a soft ruffling sound. "It sounds like wings…" Harri commented as they approached a brightly lit chamber, which was filled to the brim with brilliantly colored flying keys. On the far side of the chamber there was a large wooden door with a formidable looking lock on it.

Hermione made her way over to the lock and inspected it closely. "We're going to need to catch one of those keys, and by the look of the lock we need an old fashion silver key," she deduced.

Draco's eyes wandered towards three broomsticks lying against the wall. "We should probably use those," he said picking one up and handing the other two to Harri and Hermione.

"These were transfigured from something else. I hope they fly correctly," Harri mumbled as she inspected the handle of the broom and realized that it wasn't a real broom model. This was all just a little too convenient for her tastes.

Harri was glad that her two friends didn't hear her. She didn't need to worry them further. She sighed and took off in search for a silver key. She weaved in and out of the keys when she finally saw one with a bent wing and it happened to be silver as well. She figured the previous person hand violently shoved the poor thing into the lock down there.

"I found it! Draco, you come from above. Hermione, stay below and make sure it doesn't move down. I'm going to catch this key," Harri said with a smirk, she wasn't the youngest seeker in over a century for nothing. The Gryffindor dove after the key, and with her two friends distracting the poor thing, Harri was easily able to catch it. The three of them landed softly and Harri gently put the key into the door and luckily for them it opened.

When they entered the next chamber they were greeted with the sight of a giant wizard's chess board. "Any ideas on what to do next?" Harri asked shuddering at the faceless chess pieces.

"We play. There are three empty spaces. It's obvious this had been set up for us," Draco replied as he stepped up to the knight's position. Hermione took the place of the rook and Harri was the queen.

The game progressed quickly and escalated into a full on battle of pure strategy. Draco, for an eleven year old, was doing great, that was until he had to make a sacrifice. "I've got to be taken," he told them suddenly. Hermione and Harri shared horrified looks. They didn't want their friend to be hurt.

"No, there has to be another way!" Hermione shouted.

"Look, it's the only way. I'm a knight after all, they're known for sacrifices. After the queen takes me Harri can move in and checkmate the king. Keep moving and don't come back for me until you've stopped Voldemort. I don't know how long till the board will reset itself," he told them as he moved the correct amount of spaces. The queen struck Draco across the head with her stone arm. The first year went flying in the other direction and landed on the ground with a thud. Harri could see a small amount of blood dribbling out from Draco's forehead, she hoped he was going to be alright.

She took a deep breath and moved to checkmate the king. The king in response took off his crown and threw it at Harri's feet. They had won.

The two girls jumped off the chess board. Harri had to stop Hermione from going towards Draco. "Remember what Draco said? He doesn't know how long it will be before the board resets itself. He'll be alright," she assured Hermione who didn't look too pleased with Harri.

The two turned the corner to the next corridor when an unpleasant smell filled the air. The girls figured out what the smell was when they saw a troll knocked out on the ground with its club lying next to it. Harri's nostrils flared, whoever knocked this troll out used what Draco did to stop the one on Halloween.

When the entered the next room walls of flame came up on both ends of the room, one side was purple and the other was black. In the center of the room there was a table with seven different shaped vials.

"Harri, look!" Hermione exclaimed when she saw that there was a piece of paper on the table. Harri smiled, if there were instructions on that paper she knew that Hermione would be able to do what it said. Harri read it over her shoulder to see if she could help in any way:

_Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,_

_Two of us will help you, which ever you would find,_

_One among us seven will let you move ahead,_

_Another will transport the drinker back instead,_

_Two among our number hold only nettle wine,_

_Three of us are killers, waiting bidden in line._

_Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,_

_To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:_

_First, however slyly the poison tries to hide_

_You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;_

_Second, different are those who stand at either end,_

_But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;_

_Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,_

_Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;_

_Fourth, the second left and the second on the right_

_Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight._

"This is brilliant! It's a problem that involves logic! Most wizards don't have any sense of logic and would be stuck down here forever, but lucky for us I love riddles," she said with glee. It was almost like the first time she saw Hermione receive a topic for an essay, but Harri hoped she realized this wasn't homework, there wasn't any messing up with this.

The two girls stared at the paper for about four minutes trying to figure out which bottle was which when Hermione clapped her hands. "The smallest bottle will get us to the stone and the bottle all the way at the end will take us back through the purple flame that leads to Draco."

Harri picked the smallest bottle up and noticed that there was barely enough for one person to drink, it seemed that Hermione realized the same thing and the two of them stood in silently for a few moments.

"Well, there really isn't enough for both of us to drink in there? I better go through the black flame," Harri said a last. "No, listen. Go back through the purple flames and get Draco, go back to the brooms and fly back through the trapdoor, and send an owl to Dumbledore. I'm no match for the person on the other side of the black flames, but maybe I can hold him off long enough for Dumbledore to stop him."

"You can't! What if You-Know-Who is on the other side?" she asked her friend concerned.

"I got lucky once, who says it won't happen again?" Harri replied with a lopsided smile. That was when Hermione did something that Harri didn't expect, she ran up and hugged her.

"Hermione!"

"You're a great witch, remember that!" Hermione told her teary eyes. Harri gave her a sad smile and handed Hermione the bottle that would get her through the purple flames.

"You go," Harri said as she watched Hermione drink the potion, she shuddered which worried Harri for a second, making her think that it was poison, but Hermione ran through the purple flames.

Harri then took the smallest bottle off the table and drank its contents, she felt like she had been bathed in ice. She sighed and walked through the black flames, not feeling anything burning her she continued onwards. Before she knew it she was on the other side and into the final chamber.

**I've had a long week, but it's okay because after Saturday I don't have school till the end of August. =) This chapter was interesting to write. I figured I should go a little more in depth with the exams since school work was rarely spoken of in the actual series. Wow, I'm almost done with the first book, this is crazy! **

**I have a proposition for all you readers, if you can make it to 186 reviews, by Tuesday, then you get the last chapter of book one on Tuesday next week and then another chapter Friday, but that is only if you can make the review goal. Every week there will be a review goal for Tuesday's chapter and if you meet it then you will get a chapter Tuesday, if not, then you won't get a second chapter that Tuesday, but you will get one on Friday. You guys will always get a chapter on Friday. So let's see if you guys are willing to review! =D I love hearing feedback and constructive criticism. **

**I'm going to also say who guessed Hermione's love interests in the next chapter as well as officially say who Harriet's love interest is going to be in the book series, that you all picked out.**

**Now, speaking of love interests, here is the voting tally:**

**George: 68**

**Draco: 21**

**Remember to review for that chapter on Tuesday! I already have chapter 13 written...so if you don't get to the goal I'll just post it on Friday.(*Insert evil laugh here*)**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello! I'm updating a few hours earlier than I usually do...I have a lot to do tomorrow and figured it would be nice of me to update earlier instead of Saturday afternoon. See you at the bottom! =)**

**Chapter 13**

**The Man with two Faces**

She was greeted with the sight of Quirrell and the Mirror of Erised as soon as she entered the chamber. "Hello, Professor," she greeted hostilely as he watched her with a wicked smile, his face wasn't twitching like it normally was. For the first time all year he seemed calm.

"I was wondering when I'd see you here, Potter. It took all year to set this up," he said to her without a stutter and with utmost confidence in himself.

The one thought running through her mind was _why she was needed_ for his plan in the first place. She was just a first year student, nothing powerful enough to stop him.

"I thought for sure you would have suspected Snape. He had been harassing you like an overgrown bat all year," Quirrell continued. Harri knew she was going to have to give Hermione an 'I told you so' if she got out of this alive. She had suspected Quirrell all year, but no, it had to be Snape trying to kill her.

Harri was glad that he was still talking, she needed him distracted so she could come up with a plan.

"I never really suspected Snape. So you were the one who tried to kill me all year?" Harri asked with a questioning sound to her voice, even though she already knew the answer.

"Yes, it was an incredibly hard task with Severus protecting you all year. I would have knocked you off your broom much earlier if your blasted potions professor hadn't been muttering a counter curse. Then he had the gall to referee your next quidditch match, of course everyone thought that he was trying to ruin Gryffindor's chances of winning. Though, he didn't even need to put up the effort since Dumbledore was there. He really made himself unpopular after that. All his effort has been wasted, because I'm going to kill you right here, tonight," he ranted to the eleven year old in front of him. Quirrell snapped his fingers and ropes tied themselves around Harri.

"Were you the one that let the troll into the school on Halloween?" Harri asked, trying to keep the madman talking.

"I did, you see I have a special gift with trolls. You saw what I did to the one back in there," he told her distractedly.

"Now, be quiet while I examine this mirror," he ordered aggravated.

Harri felt slightly rebellious and decided to try and ask him another question while she thought of a way to stop him from looking into that mirror. "I heard you crying in your classroom the other day."

Quirrell stopped looking at the mirror and turned his attention back to Harri. "Sometimes I find it hard to follow my master's instructions. He is a powerful wizard and I am weak," he replied frustrated with his personal weakness. Now, Harri wasn't going to deny that he was weak and she also wasn't going to deny that he was a bloody idiot, but she wanted to know where his master was because she hadn't seen him in the classroom with him.

"You mean to tell me that he was in the classroom with you?" she gasped. Was that why her scar had been hurting all year? Voldemort had been in the school the entire year, but where would he be hiding?

"He is with me wherever I go, you stupid girl. After I failed to steal the Stone from Gringotts he decided to keep a closer eye on me," Quirrell trailed off as he gazed back into the mirror.

"Maybe I should smash the mirror?" Quirrell muttered to himself, but Harri heard every word he said. Her mind was racing and she needed to think on her toes.

That's when she remembered how the mirror worked. It shows your heart's desire, so if she were to look into the mirror and wish that she could get the Stone away from Quirrell she might be able to hold him off long enough for help to arrive.

Harri wasn't sure how to go about looking into the mirror without her idiot professor noticing, but as soon as she tried to move she tipped over and crashed onto her side due to the ropes tied around her ankles.

Quirrell didn't even notice that she was on the floor, he was still muttering to himself, "What does this mirror do? How does it work? Master, help me."

Harri's blood ran cold…he was calling for Voldemort? Wouldn't that mean that he's in the room with them right now?

_"Use the girl…use the girl…"_ an eerily haunting voice could be heard throughout the room. It didn't come from Quirrell and it definitely didn't come from Harri.

Quirrell immediately turned on Harri. "Yes, come here, Potter," he said with an evil glint in his unfeeling eyes. Harri gulped when Quirrell clapped his hands and the ropes and binds around her disappeared, including the band that tied her hair together, much to Harri's annoyance. Her hair came completely out of its braid when Quirrell yanked her off the ground and shoved her in front the mirror.

"Now, tell me what you see, Potter," Quirrell demanded, his wand held up to Harri's head, staying over an arms-length away from her.

_I have to lie,_ she thought desperately. _All I have to do is tell a convincing lie, that's all._

Quirrell moved closer to her, almost coming into the mirrors edge. Harri tried not to sneeze from the smell of her captor's turban. Instead the young girl focused her attention on the mirror, since this was the item that was going to either save her or get her killed.

When she lifted her head enough to look into the mirror she saw a rather strange sight. She was standing in front of her reflection in the mirror, but she seemed older than she was now, maybe fourteen or fifteen. The older version of her looked different, she didn't have glasses on and her hair was cut short, making her look even more like her father than she already did. The only reason she recognized herself were her bright green eyes staring back at her. The major surprise in the reflection was that she wasn't alone. Standing behind her with an arm around her shoulders and his chin on her head was George Weasley, who was also quite a bit older. In his other hand he held the Sorcerer's Stone and was admiring it with his trademark grin. He looked at it for a second before winking and slipping it into her older self's pocket.

Suddenly, she felt something heavy drop into her pocket. She had gotten the Stone? Her older self put her index finger to her lips as if to say, "Shh." The reflections disappeared as quickly as they came and Harri was left with her current problem, how to deal with Quirrell.

"Well," Quirrell demanded. "What do you see?"

Harri mustered up all the courage she had left and lied like her life depended on it, which it kind of did.

"I see myself shaking hands with Dumbledore, I've won the house cup for Gryffindor," she replied and by the look of aggravation on his face he believed her. Quirrell shoved her to the side to examine the mirror again and Harri decided it was time to make a break for it, but she didn't even take three steps when she felt like something was slithering through her thoughts and the voice could be heard again.

_"She lies…she lies…"_

"Potter, come back here," Quirrell ordered. "Tell me the truth, what did you see?"

The voice could be heard speaking again.

_"Let me speak to her…face to face."_

"Master you aren't strong enough!"

_"I'm strong enough…for this..."_

Harri felt as if she was constricted by the Devil's Snare once more. She felt like she couldn't move, it was nearly the exact feeling she got in the forbidden forest a few weeks prior. She watched still as a statue as Quirrell removed the turban that had covered his head the entire year. As it tumbled to the floor Quirrell turned around.

The sight that greeted her made her want to throw up. She would have screamed if she could, but she couldn't make a sound. On the back of Quirrell's head was the face of another man, if you could call it a face. The other person resembled a snake more than a human, with its white face, red eyes and serpentine like nostrils. The even more disgusting part was that it spoke to her.

"Harriet Potter…"

Harri really wished she could get the feeling in her legs back. She wanted to run away so badly.

"See what I've become? A mere vapor of the wizard I used to be... I can only have a form when I'm attached to another human being's soul... There have always been those that have been willing to let me into their hearts and minds… Unicorn blood has made me stronger within these past few weeks…Quirrell has been faithfully drinking it for me... And once I have the Stone I will be granted eternal life and create a new body…Now…why don't you give me that stone in your pocket."

So, he knew the entire time. Harri suddenly got the feeling back in her legs and she stumbled back a few steps.

"Don't be a fool," he snarled. "Or you'll end the same way as your parents… They died begging for mercy..."

"LIAR!" she screamed back. There was no way that her parents would beg for anything from Voldemort. She knew they weren't cowards.

Her professor was now walking backwards towards her, Voldemort's face smiling evilly.

"Yes, I always did admire bravery…I killed your blood traitor father first…he put up a valiant fight, but he died just like the rest…your mother needn't have died…she was protecting your worthless life. Now, give me the Stone…don't let your mother's sacrifice be in vain!" he hissed at her.

Harri felt her blood boil at his comments. "You'll have to kill me first!" she shouted back. Harri turned around and sprinted towards the flames on the other side of the room.

Voldemort screamed "SEIZE HER!" and within the next few seconds she felt Quirrell's hand around her wrist. Suddenly, a needle sharp pain went through her scar, it felt like she had been repeatedly hit on the head with a beater's bat. Harri struggled, kicked and wriggled, until, much to Harri's surprise, Quirrell let go of her.

Harri turned around to see what had happened to make Quirrell let her go and was surprised to see that he was hunched over in pain, his hands were blistered and raw.

_Was that from touching my wrist?_ Harri wondered, but before she had time to think any more on the topic Voldemort's voice could be heard again, "Seize her! Seize her!"

Quirrell jumped at her, pinned her to the ground and began to strange her. The pain in her scar was blinding. The only thing that she could hear was Quirrell howling in agony. He kept her pinned to the ground with his knees and Harri saw him looking at his hands. She noticed that they were red and raw, like the skin had been completely burned off.

That was when Harri came up with a very dangerous plan that Sirius would probably ground her for later. She figured if Quirrell couldn't touch her without being burned she needed blind him and get him away from her. As soon as the thoughts passed through her head Voldemort screamed "Kill her, she asked for death, didn't she?"

When Quirrell raised his wand to perform a deadly curse Harri grabbed his face. He yowled in pain and rolled around to try and throw her off, but she wasn't letting up, giving him even a brief break could give Quirrell the opportunity to use his wand and kill her. Harri could barely remain conscious with the pain in her head, but she refused to release his face.

She heard the distant cries of "Harriet!" but it was too late. She could tell that her consciousness was beginning to fade. She closed her eyes and let the darkness take her, she just hoped that the Stone was safe.

Harri could feel the fogginess in her head begin to clear as she woke up. As her eyes came back into focus she saw something gold above her and when she blinked a few more times she saw it was Dumbledore, more specifically his glasses. Harri could only wonder what he was doing here. That was when she gazed around and noticed that she was in the hospital wing.

"Good afternoon, Harriet," he greeted quietly, trying not to startle the confused girl in front of him.

That was when Harri remembered what had happened before she blacked out. "Sir, what happened to the stone? I was trying to hold off Quirrell and Voldemort! Did they get away?"

"Always right to the point, that reminds me of your mother, but no, Quirrell didn't get away with the stone. You're a little behind on the times, you've been asleep for three days. Your godfather and Mr. Lupin have been in hysterics for the past few days over your health. Ms. Granger and Mr. Malfoy have been extremely worried about you as well. All of them will be glad to hear that you're awake," he replied with a smile.

"Sirius and Remus were here?" she asked with a raised eyebrow she was surprised that they weren't in the room with her right now.

"I'm afraid they had to step out for a few minutes," Dumbledore answered, hoping that the girl wouldn't be worried about her missing family members, since they really weren't all that far away. All his worry went away when a small smile graced Harri's lips.

"Sirius was hungry and took Remus to the kitchens to get food, didn't he?"

"Naturally," Dumbledore replied with a good natured smile. He was happy that she knew her family so well.

Harri decided not to waste time while her family was eating and started asking questions. "What happened to the Stone?" she asked. The last thing she remembers was Quirrell trying to strangle her to get it.

"Quirrell didn't get the stone, you kept him away from it long enough. Though, the effort almost killed you. The Stone, itself, has been destroyed," he told her.

Harri let out a sigh, there was one more question that she needed to ask, "Sir, Voldemort isn't gone is he? I mean, he's going to find other ways to come back isn't he?"

"I fear that you're right, Harriet. Nevertheless, you have delayed his rise to power," Dumbledore explained to her, trying to make his explanation simpler than it really was.

"Sir, I had one more question," Harri said a few moments later. She didn't want to seem like a bother, but this question was something, she felt, only Dumbledore could answer.

"Just one more? Well, go ahead and ask," he replied with a kind smile. He was amused by the young girl's curiosity.

"Voldemort mentioned that my mother sacrificed herself to save me, is that true? If so, how did she protect me when she was already dead?"

"Ah, that is a very simple answer, Harriet. You're mother loved you so much that she sacrificed herself to keep you alive and she still protects you today. If there is one thing that Voldemort could never understand it's love," he told her with a twinkle in his eyes.

Dumbledore got up to leave, but Harri thought of one more thing that was bothering her. "Sir, why did Voldemort target me in the first place?"

"That is something you will learn when you're older. You are much too young to have to know about it."

Harri really doubted that she wouldn't understand what he was talking about, but he seemed to close the conversation by leaving the hospital wing.

The young first year sighed. This had been too stressful for her tastes. It was upsetting that she had to miss the last Quidditch match of the year because she out cold in the hospital wing, but at least she saved the school in the end.

Fifteen minutes later Harri heard the door to the hospital wing open. She turned her head to the sound and saw two men walk into the room, the men happened to be Remus and Sirius. When Harri saw them she waved and Sirius ran over and engulfed her in a hug. "Bambi, we were so worried! I don't know whether to ground you or congratulate you saving the school. I swear you're trying to give me grey hairs," Sirius said as he ran a hand through his precious hair.

"It's not my fault no one would listen to us," Harri muttered to herself. Remus heard and tried not to groan. Only Harri would try to save the school because no one would listen to her.

"Well, we were extremely worried when we heard you were in the hospital wing. You really need to be more careful. The twins, Draco and Hermione filled us in on what happened. You really proved that you were a Gryffindor. Your parents would have been so proud of you," Remus told her ruffling her wild hair. It was obvious that the famous Potter hair can only be tamed with length and a lot of combing, which Harri hadn't been doing for the last few days since she wasn't conscious.

"Was Draco okay? I know he was hurt too," Harri asked suddenly remembering her friend's completely motionless form on the ground of the chess board.

"Yes, he's fine. He had a very mild concussion. Apparently, he and Hermione got out of the underground chamber and found the twins waiting outside the third floor corridor for you. Fred took Draco to the hospital wing since he was still too out of it from the concussion to do anything useful and George and Hermione ran to the Owlry to send a letter to Dumbledore. He arrived shortly after the letter was sent. You gave us a real scare Bambi," Sirius explained filling his goddaughter in on everything that happened.

"Rest up, we'll see you on the platform in a few days," Remus told her as he pried Sirius off her and pulled the over protective godfather out of the room. Harri laughed at their antics, some things would never change in her life and she was very happy about that.

With a lot of pleading on Harri's part she was allowed to attend the end of the year feast. Harri was so happy to be out of the hospital wing that she forgot that Slytherin had won the house cup.

When she saw Draco and Hermione sitting at the Gryffindor table with the twins, alive and well, she could care less about who won a silly competition. She made her way over to her friends and sat in between them, much to their surprise. "Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let us see you! We didn't even think you'd be allowed to go to the feast!" Hermione exclaimed. It was obvious that she missed her roommate immensely. Draco pulled Harri into a hug and the twins looked like they wanted to hop over the table and join, but Dumbledore began to speak, so their plan was deterred slightly.

"Another year has passed and Slytherin has taken the house cup again this year," he told the student body and had to stop due to the cheering from the Slytherin section. Harri noticed a smug grin on Alya's face, but chose to ignore it.

"But I have some last minute points to award due to recent events. First, to Mr. Draco Malfoy…" a light pink blush began to appear on Draco's cheeks at the mention of his name.

"For the best played game of wizard's chess that Hogwarts' has seen in many years, I award Ravenclaw with fifty points." The Ravenclaw house applauded loudly at one of their housemate's success.

"Second, to Ms. Hermione Granger, for the use of logic in the face of fire…I award Gryffindor with fifty points." This time it was the Gryffindor's turn to cheer.

"Third, to Ms. Harriet Potter…for pure nerve and raw courage, I award Gryffindor with sixty points." Harri sighed, they were still ten points from reaching Slytherin and there was no one else to give points to, what was Dumbledore playing at?

"And finally, to Fred and George Weasley for outstanding loyalty in the face of a raging lion, I award Gryffindor with twenty points." The Weasley twins gave each other a high five and looked towards their head of house who was blushing slightly. She was obviously the raging lion that the head master was talking about. That meant that Gryffindor had overtaken Slytherin by ten points!

"I believe that a change in color is in order," Dumbledore said with a smile. He clapped his hands and the banners turned from green and silver to red and gold, thought it was nearly impossible to hear him over the cheering from every table, but the Slytherin's.

It wasn't long before they got their test score back and all of Hermione's worrying could come to a close. All three of them had gotten extremely high marks on all of their exams, Hermione scored the highest in charms and history of magic, Harriet in defense and transfigurations and Draco in potions and astronomy.

And before they knew it all their trunks were packed, it was time to leave Hogwarts. Before Harri left the school for the year she had one last thing to do. Two hours before the train left she made her way to Snape's office near the dungeons. She knocked on the door lightly knowing that the grouchy professor wouldn't appreciate her banging on the door. Harri waited for a few moments before the door opened. Snape looked down and glared at her. "Is there something you need, Potter?" he sneered, hoping to scare the young girl away.

"I wanted to say thank you for saving my life. I know you didn't have to or want to do it. I look too much like my dad, but I figured you should know that I am grateful for your help."

Snape just stared at the girl in shock. He would have never guessed that she would even acknowledge his help. She sounded more like her mother when she acted like that instead of her father.

"You welcome," he replied shortly. It was obvious to Harri that this was all she was going to get from her potions professor and decided that it was time to leave.

"See you next year, professor!" Harri said cheekily as sauntering off to find Draco the twins and Hermione, none of them would believe that she spoke to Snape and lived. The potions professor stared at her in shock and shook his head, maybe the Potter girl wasn't as bad as he originally thought.

The train ride was rather uneventful, except for Hermione giving Harri her telephone number telling her to call her. Draco and the twins then asked what a telephone was and that took the entire ride to explain.

Right before the train stopped, Harri asked Fred something that had been bothering her since before she stopped Quirrell. "Fred, why did you send up sparks in the forbidden forest?"

"It was actually Alya who sent the sparks up, but we saw someone there. I only got a brief look at him, but he was a short and chubby man with watery eyes. I ran after him, but he ducked behind a tree and disappeared. It was really strange. Alya sent up sparks because she was panicking," he replied with a shrug, but Harri's blood ran cold. That description sounded very familiar…she just couldn't place her finger on it.

After the train stopped, Harri and Draco made their way over to Sirius who looked lonely standing around by himself. Sirius' eyes lit up when he saw Harri and waved them over. "Where's Remus?" Harri asked. It wasn't like him to ditch Sirius.

"He said he had last minute plans…I think he's got himself a girlfriend," Sirius replied with a mischievous smirk. Harri knew that smirk, it was his snooping smirk. It seemed like she and Draco were in for an interesting summer.

**So, the first book is done and you know exactly who Harri is going to end up with! I wanted to introduce it like that. It was a good way to show who won and it would have worked with any of the pairings since she saw it in the mirror. Though, at this point Harri doesn't realize what the vision of the future was telling her, but we all do. ;)**

**Well, the review goal wasn't reached...too bad for you guys. I have another one for this week and it's 195 (lowered it a bit). It you can get to that you get a chapter Tuesday. I already have chapter 14 written, I finished it this afternoon. I'm going to start chapter fifteen tomorrow. =) Thank you for all your reviews I wouldn't have finished without you guys cheering me on!**

**Okay, now for the long awaited unveiling of who guessed who Hermione was being paired with...**

**If you guessed Draco or Fred you were WRONG! I have other plans from them. =3**

**Now, these lovely reviewers guessed correctly (I really should have written the names down when I saw them, now I have to look through 179 reviews) :**

**CallMeEm**

**Heart of Books**

**Mae2551**

**and**

**Ali Inverse**

**Only one of them guessed the second person (which I never mentioned in the first books so props to them!) she might be paired with, so without further stalling here are the possible people with Hermione are:**

**Cedric (which CallMeEm, Mae2551 and Ali Inverse guessed)**

**or**

**Viktor Krum (which Heart of Books guessed) **

**If any of you, who guessed it correctly, want to be a minor character leave the Hogwarts house you want to be in/ name you want/ character attributes and description you want / and year you want to be in, in either the reviews or PM me. =) I made a promise didn't I?**

**The voting for Hermione will start now I guess... You guys aren't going to believe how I'm bringing Viktor in early to even out his chances of winning. You'll just have to wait and see. **

**~Animerocker **

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hi! It's been a gross week, I've been sick...again. I wish my immune system was better. Anyways, you didn't make the review goal, so you didn't get the chapter on Tuesday. There's always next week, right? Enjoy. =)**

**Chapter 14**

**An Interesting Day**

Harriet Potter, also known as Harri or Bambi, had a very interesting life. She lived with her Godfather, Sirius Black, who couldn't cook anything without it coming alive first and with her best friend Draco Malfoy, who was like the older brother she never had. Harriet Potter also happened to be a witch that goes to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

In her first year at Hogwarts she managed to stop a madman from stealing the Sorcerer's Stone. It nearly got her killed and because of that she had been grounded for the majority of the summer, though her punishment was to try and help Sirius find out who Remus, who happened to be a werewolf and her honorary uncle, was dating. For helping her try and get the Stone Draco was given the same punishment, though he was in more a foul mood than she was over it. She wasn't going to argue with her Godfather over their punishment, no matter how strange it was.

Despite being a witch Harriet lived a semi normal life with her makeshift family in a muggle neighborhood of London. Harriet had introduced Draco to her friends that lived in the same area, some were magical while others were just normal kids that thought that Harriet and Draco attended a fancy muggle secondary school in Scotland during the school year. Draco had spent the first few weeks of the summer becoming acquainted with the muggle appliances in Sirius' apartment. When he didn't get the hang of using the appliances right away Harriet told him that her godfather still couldn't use half of the stuff that was lying around the apartment.

Harriet and Draco spent time finishing the school work in between Sirius' insane family bonding games and trying to figure out who Remus was dating behind their backs. They all knew Remus wasn't stupid. They knew that he knew that they knew he was dating someone, but was determined to keep her a secret from them.

So, the day before Harriet's twelfth birthday, Draco and Harriet were walking down a busy London street, in disguises, following Remus. Harriet had a blonde wig and sunglasses on, so if Remus looked back he wouldn't see her trademark green eyes. Draco on the other hand wore a dark brown wig and a scowl on his face. "Why are we doing this again?" he asked bored out of his mind. They had been doing this all summer long and had come up with nothing.

"Because you want to know who Remus is dating just as much as Sirius and I do," Harriet answered with a smirk on her face. All of them really wanted to know who was lucky enough to be dating Remus and no matter how many times they asked Remus he just wouldn't tell them who he was dating, so they resorted to following him.

"Harri, we've been trying to figure this out all summer. I'm getting rather bored of following him around. We could be hanging out with the twins or Hermione," he said as Remus went into a small family owned café called Cake's Coffee House. It was a quaint café that advertised homemade cakes and live music. Harri and Draco watched Remus sit down and look at a menu through the café's window.

"Hermione is going to be coming over later today to meet Wendi and her cousin and the twins are grounded for blowing up a toilet," Harri replied as she watched Remus sit down at a table for two, it seemed that he was the first one to arrive.

Suddenly, something beeped in Harri's pocket. The young girl sighed and pulled out a walkie talkie that Sirius charmed to work no matter how far away he was. "Padfoot to Bambi, do you read me?" Since Remus knew all of Sirius' tricks and disguises he had sent Harri and Draco instead.

"Roger that, Padfoot. Mooney is in the den. We are waiting for contact," Harri responded with a smirk on her face.

"Oi, someone is sitting down with him," Draco said rocking on the balls of his feet in excitement. This was the first time that Remus hadn't noticed them following him all summer. The girl that sat down next to him was average height and wore normal muggle clothes. The only surprising thing about her was that her hair was a bright blue.

"Sirius, we're pulling out. Do I have a story to tell you when we get home," Harri told her godfather as she put the walkie talkie in her jacket pocket and pulled Draco back towards the house.

"I'm going to assume you know who sat down with Remus?" Draco asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You bet I do," she answered with a smirk. She couldn't wait to see Sirius' face when she told him who Remus was dating. He was going to flip out.

The two arrived back at Sirius' apartment a half an hour later they were pulling the wigs off their heads. Harri's braid came tumbling out and Draco's blonde hair was extremely messy, much to his dismay.

When they entered the house they were immediately pulled in by Sirius who looked at them expectantly.

"Well, we definitely know who Remus is dating. She goes by the preferred name of Tonks, or as you and Remus call her Dora," Harri replied waiting for his reaction. She either figured that it was going to be one of absolute horror or one of absolute hilarity. She was betting on the second one.

"No wonder he never dated anyone at Hogwarts! She hadn't even been born yet! Andromeda is going to go mad when she finds out!" Sirius said as he doubled over laughing.

"Sirius, are we done being your spies for the rest of the summer? As much fun as dressing up in wigs are, I think I've had enough of it," Draco told his legal guardian with a scowl.

"Yea, you two are officially ungrounded," Sirius replied with a wave of his hand.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. The three of them turned around slowly and the bell rang again. Harri sighed and unlocked the door. When the opened the door the two preteens were greeted by being tackled in a hug by someone with bushy brown hair, wearing jeans and a plain red t-shirt. "Hermione, we weren't expecting you for a couple of hours," Harri said shoving her wig into Draco's hands when she noticed Hermione's parents standing behind her. Hermione had brought bags with her for the rest of the summer, since her family was going on a trip that would interfere with school they decided to let her stay at a friend's house. Though, they had been a little worried that she was going to be staying in a house with only one parent.

"Mr. and Mrs. Granger, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm Sirius Black, Harriet's godfather and Draco's legal guardian. Why don't you both join me in the kitchen while the kids catch up," Sirius said charmingly as he ushered the two adults out of the room.

"Do you think that he's going to be okay talking to my parents?" Hermione asked skeptically. She had heard stories about Sirius Black's lack of tack. She didn't want him scaring away her parents.

"As long as they don't bring up his cooking I think everything will be fine," Draco told her as he walked past her and farther into the apartment. That was when Hermione noticed the wigs in Draco's hand.

"Sirius had us spying on Remus and we finally caught him. Draco's just putting the wigs away," Harri answered her friend's unspoken question.

"Alright…Weren't the twins supposed to be here as well?" Hermione questioned her friend confused. She knew the twins would be the first ones here since they worship the ground Sirius walked on and enjoyed Harri's company.

"They're mother grounded them for blowing up a toilet. I doubt that they'll be allowed out of the house anytime soon. I got a call from them on the two way mirror. They said they could talk more tonight," Harri replied with a smile. The twins were so much trouble, but they really made her life that more interesting.

"Of course they did. Is there a place where I can put my bags? I am staying here for a little over a month, after all," Hermione asked motioning to her trunk and bags.

"Sure, come on, you'll be staying in my room with me. Draco has the old guest room and Sirius' study is where Remus stays when he's in between jobs…otherwise there's one of Sirius' books lying on the floor. He likes to pretend that the book on the floor makes it a study," Harri told her as they dragged Hermione's bags and trunk up the stairs. Part way up Draco joined them in pulling Hermione's abnormally heavy trunk up the last few steps.

"Hermione, if you had any more books in that trunk I don't think we would have been able to lift it. You're lucky the apartment complex has an elevator, otherwise your family would have never made it up here," Draco told her as he lugged the trunk into Harri's room.

Harri's room was much simpler than Hermione would have ever guessed. The room itself was a pale lilac that complimented the dark violet sheets of her bedspread, and the pillows and cushions that were around the room in various different places. She had a dark wooden dresser, a twin sized bed with her Gryffindor tie thrown over one of the posts, her trunk was in front of her bed, but it had some cushions on it so people could sit on it, two bedside tables with shaded laps on them, a small window seat and a bookshelf filled to the brim with muggle books.

Harri motioned for them to come in and Draco moved the trunk into the far corner of the room and put her bags next to it. Harri bent down under her bed and pulled out another mattress with sheets and a light comforter on it, obviously they had made room for Hermione to sleep comfortably. She was just happy it wasn't an air mattress.

Harri went to the window to her room and looked out and saw a very familiar face outside with a boy she assumed was her cousin that she had wanted to introduce them to.

"Wendi is outside with her cousin! I forgot that we were supposed to meet them!" Harri exclaim as she opened the window and yelled down to her friend that she'd be out in a minute.

"Isn't Wendi your best friend from your primary school?" Hermione asked in a defensive tone. She hadn't had any friends until she enrolled in Hogwarts and was slightly worried that she had been replaced by Wendi during the summer months.

"Yep, she's witch like us, though she goes to Durmstrang with her cousin. He's the same age as the Weasley twins," Harri replied as she pulled Draco and Hermione down the stairs and to the kitchen, which luckily had sounds of laughter coming from it. Harri poked her head into the kitchen to see if it was okay for all of them to come and when Sirius waved them in she walked right in, the other two stayed in the hallway.

"Wendi is outside, do you mind if we go and talk to her for a while?" Harri asked hoping that Mr. and Mrs. Granger wouldn't mind.

"Nope, just be careful, Bambi," Sirius replied as he ruffled her hair. Harri lightly smacked his hand away from her hair and left the room glaring at him.

When the three of them got outside Wendi was already waiting by the landing to the apartment. Wendi was tall and rather pale for a twelve year old. She had long brown hair that she wore down and dark brown eyes that were the color of mocha. Her cousin standing next to her had many of the same attributes that she did, though he had more muscle mass and he also seemed slightly awkward on his feet.

"Wendi, this is my friend Hermione Granger and you've already met Draco," Harri said introducing her friend to Wendi seemed pleased to meet Hermione, though Hermione didn't hold the same sentiment. "Hermione, this Wendi Krum."

"Hello, Hermione, Harri has told me all about you this summer. I'm glad that she made friends at Hogwarts, as you know she doesn't have much tack."

"Oi, I resent that comment!" Harri shouted.

Wendi's cousin cleared his throat and that was when Wendi decided to introduce him. "This is my cousin, Viktor, he is from Bulgaria. His English is a little rusty, but he can understand everything you say. Viktor, this is my childhood friend, Harriet Potter, and her best friends Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger."

"It'z a pleasure to meet you all. When my cousin zaid she knew Harriet Potter, I did not believe her," he said was an extremely heavy accent. He shook Draco's hand and kissed the back of Harri's as well as Hermione's. Hermione blushed a bright red at the contact and Harri tried not to laugh at her friend's flustered state. Harri found it amusing when guys acted like proper gentlemen.

The group stayed out for hours talking about the differences in their schools. Viktor and Harri got into a heated discussion about Quidditch and the other three watched on as the argued over who was the better seeker. As it turned out, Viktor wanted to do Quidditch professionally when he was older and had already been looked at by the Bulgaria international team. Sirius called them in a short while later for dinner, as it turned out, Mr. and Mrs. Granger had left while they were talking with Wendi. It bothered Harri that they didn't say goodbye to Hermione, but she figured that they just didn't want to interrupt her. Before they went inside Harri invited Viktor and Wendi to her small birthday party the next day.

Later that night after all the commotion had ended Harri, Hermione and Draco were laying on the floor in Harri's room waiting for the twins to call on the two way mirror. "Who's coming to your party tomorrow?" Draco asked trying to start a conversation to fill the silence.

"Sirius, Remus, Tonks, you, Hermione, Wendi, Viktor, the twins if they can weasel out of their punishment, Neville, Oliver, Katie, Angelina and Cedric…"

"You invited Digory?" A voice said from the mirror, it turned out to be George she couldn't see Fred, but she knew he was somewhere nearby. Harri rolled her eyes, of course the twins would be listening in on her guest list. On top of that George really didn't like Cedric.

"Yes, I invited Cedric, but he can't come because he's sick, though he does plan on joining us in Diagon Alley when we shop for school supplies. More importantly, can you and Fred come tomorrow?" Harri replied.

"We can, but we have to bring our little sister, Ginny, with us. She's a huge a fan of yours. If you don't want her to come Fred and I can just stay home. She can be pretty annoying," George responded.

"She is more than welcome to come. At least I'll be able to see my two favorite pranksters…just don't tell Sirius I said that," Harri told him with a smirk. George's face darkened a shade or two at her comment, but he turned around and they could hear a door slam from George's side.

"Shoot, Fred can't distract mum anymore, see you tomorrow," George said quickly as the mirror went blank.

Soon enough the three of them went their separate ways and went to sleep.

**This wasn't my longest chapter, but it wasn't my shortest. I needed to bring in Viktor earlier than in the real books. I liked his character despite the fact he barely spoke in the series...The next chapter is going to be about the party! There is going to be a little twist to it towards the end with a little slip of the tongue and awkwardness ensues. **

**I know I didn't bring in Viktor the way some reviewers wanted, but I thought this was fairly creative. I hope I did his accent justice. I was saying his lines out loud and changing letters. My dog was glaring at me because she was trying to sleep. (she thinks she's people) Anyway, the voting for Hermione has already started and here is the standings:**

**Cedric: 1**

**Viktor: 2**

**At the very end I might even vote once. =) I promise that Cedric will be seen in chapter 16 and then throughout Hogwarts. Viktor will send letters to Hermione and Harri during the year, since that's the only way for me to really keep him in the story. **

**I've got my work cut out for me...**

**Thank you for everyone that's reviewing, favoriting and altering! So, this week the review goal is going to be 205. If you can get to 205 then you get the birthday chapter Tuesday. Everyone is welcome to review, even if you don't have an account. You can vote, tell me what you didn't like about the chapter, what you feel could improve the story, or what you liked and want to me keep in the story. You'd be surprised how I incorporate my readers suggestions into what I write. The only reason I'm writing this is so you guys can read it. =)**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hello, my lovey readers. You have finally reached a review goal! I've been out all day, so that's why you're getting the chapter later in the day. =)**

**Chapter 15**

**Birthday Surprises**

Harri woke up to the rustling of sheets from the foot of her bed. She opened her eyes slowly and groaned, she recognized that sound anywhere, Hermione was getting ready for the day and trying to wake her up. "Hermione, it's my birthday. Can't you let me sleep in?" she pleaded with her roommate.

Her only form of reply was a pillow being thrown at her head, which definitely woke her up. This was one thing that Harri didn't miss about rooming with Hermione. Harri sighed and grabbed her glasses from her bedside table and put them on, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the clarity of the room. When she looked down to the mattress that Hermione was sleeping on she saw that her friend was already dressed and just adjusting the sheets to wake her up.

"You're evil, you know that?" Harri told her friend as she got up and padded over to her dresser to grab her clothes for the day.

Both girls were ready in about ten minutes and when they were about to leave the room they heard a shout of "Bloody hell!" coming from the kitchen. Harri let out a sigh and Hermione looked slightly confused.

The girls ran towards the source of the noise to find Draco being held captive by one of Sirius' culinary creations while Sirius was trying to get the thing to let go of him. Harri had never seen one that actually had the ability to hold onto someone, so she grabbed Hermione and moved them behind the wall upstairs and watched the scene. She made sure to keep Hermione out of the mutant cake's reach.

"What is that?" she asked panicked.

"That is why we don't let Sirius cook…" Harri replied as Sirius blew the thing up and cake got everywhere.

Draco fell to the floor with a muffled thud, since he landed in a pile of cake remains. He was covered head to toe in cake batter and he didn't look amused.

"I'm going to go and change," he said with a scowl. He stormed past his two friends and went to the end of the hall where his room was and slammed the door behind him.

"This isn't the first time Sirius' food has attacked Draco, but it is the first time it's tried to hug him. His cooking seems to like Draco…I don't know why, it definitely isn't his sunny disposition," Harri commented with a chuckle as she made her way Draco's room. She knocked on his door and waited a few seconds for him to open it. The door creaked open slowly and Draco's cake covered head popped out.

"I'm in the middle of getting cake off me. Is there something you need?" he asked as he toweled his head off. It seemed that the towel was charmed to take off dirt and grime because where ever he swiped it the cake would disappear. He motioned for the two girls to follow him into his room.

Draco's room had the same type of furniture that Harri's had, except for his bed which was a bunk bed with a desk built underneath the top bunk. The room was painted significantly darker than Harriet's. It was a dark Ravenclaw blue with different constellations painted into the ceiling.

"Just making sure you're okay. I've never seen Sirius' creations get the jump on you before," Harri told him and Draco sighed.

"I didn't even know that it was there till it was on top of me. It didn't even seem like something Sirius would make, it tasted too good for it to be his cooking. He didn't even know that it was there until I shouted. It's rather strange, but maybe he forgot he was making something?"

"Harri will ask him about it later. Are you okay? You always seem to be the person that gets flung around like a rag doll…first the game of wizard's chess and now this," Hermione said concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine. The cake really didn't do anything and the chess board was a once in a lifetime experience. I doubt that I will ever have to win a game of life sized wizard's chess ever again," he replied with a wary smile. He really hoped that he would never have to do that again.

"Never say never, Draco. Maybe you'll tryout for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team and get thrown around like a quaffle," Harri told him as she pulled out a book from his bookshelf and distractedly read the back of it to see what it was about.

"I'm not trying out for Quidditch. That's your thing. I'm not all that great at it… on top of that, Cho Chang is the seeker right now and I doubt she's giving up her position any time soon," Draco responded curtly. Harri had been hinting that he should join the quidditch team ever since he practiced with her and gave her some real competition a few weeks prior.

"That's true. Cedric told me about her. Apparently she is very smitten with him, though he really can't stand her," Harri commented offhandedly. She hadn't really met Cho since she wasn't conscious for the match against Ravenclaw, but she had heard that she was a good seeker from Cedric.

"Harri, Draco, Hermione, come downstairs and eat breakfast! The cake monster is completely gone!" They heard someone, who wasn't Sirius, shout.

"Remus is here!" Harri exclaimed as she ran out the door quickly to meet her honorary Uncle. Draco and Hermione laughed at their friend's childish behavior, but went along with her anyway.

Hermione had only talked to Remus once and that was during the quidditch match the previous year. She had heard from Harri that Remus was fun to talk to about intellectual things and was planning on doing just that.

On their way down they noticed that there wasn't any cake on the walls or crawling around on the floor. Sirius was standing in the middle of the hallway with Remus looking confused. Harri ran to Remus and gave him a hug, while Sirius tried to explain the cake monster to Draco. "I don't know how the cake came alive, it was store bought! Maybe I should just let other people buy cakes, I don't seem to have any luck with them. Are you alright, Draco? The cake did grab you around the neck."

"Yes, I'm alright, it didn't have a very strong grip, since it was made out of cake," Draco replied with a slight blush. He wasn't used to people fussing over him when it came to his physical wellbeing. His mother had always focused on Alya, who she was breeding to be the perfect Slytherin bride. In Draco's honest opinion he was happy his mother hadn't doted on him, he might not have been as open minded otherwise.

The group had a rather quiet breakfast, well considering Sirius was at the table with them, it wasn't that quiet. He kept hinting that he knew who Remus was dating and it was starting to bug the sandy haired man. His best friend had been trying to get him to tell him who he was dating all summer long. Remus figured that this was no different from normal.

Sirius had a grin plastered on his face as he watched Remus squirm. The werewolf was concerned with his best friend's behavior because that grin only meant trouble for him.

"Sirius, what do you have planned?"

"Nothing, just can't wait till Dora shows up."

Remus nearly choked on his food. He hadn't thought that Sirius actually knew who he was dating.

"You know about my relationship with your cousin?" Remus asked feebly, hoping that Sirius wasn't going to say anything too bad.

"Did you honestly think you could hide it from me?" he replied with a smirk. Remus hung his head waiting for the ridicule that he was sure to come with his best friend's new found discovery.

"Remus, you do realize that we're happy for you and Tonks, right? You deserve someone just as much as the next person," Harri interjected before her godfather started acting immaturely, again.

Remus smiled at Harri's comment. He was worried that they were going to be disgusted by his relationship more than happy for him.

"Moony, Moony, Moony, you really need to calm down. Despite the fact that I am going to tease you mercilessly for the next few months, I am very happy that you are in a relationship for the first time since Hogwarts," Sirius told him with a grin. He was really happy for his friend, and despite popular belief, he wasn't going to be bothering him as much as everyone thought he was.

Remus sent him a small smile, knowing full well that Sirius meant every word he said. The group ate quickly and then set the house up for the party, with magic of course, and had a few moments to spare before the doorbell rang.

Harri ran to the door and opened it only to be engulfed in two pairs of arms. She recognized both pairs of arms right away as the Weasley twins. "Happy birthday, Harri!" they said at the same time. She really missed them both. She rarely got to see them together on the two way mirror at the same time. One of them was usually distracting a family member while the other was talking to her.

As they released Harri and took a step back a different red head came running up to her. This one had to be the famous Ginny that the twins had been telling her about all summer long. She was shorter than Harri by about a head, she had a multitude of freckles sprinkled on her cheeks, and her red hair and brown eyes really stuck out on her pale face. Behind Ginny was, Molly Weasley, the twins' and Ginny's mother.

Harri noticed that Sirius struck up a conversation with the Weasley matriarch and she smiled. At least he was mingling. Her thoughts were interrupted by the youngest Weasley.

"You're Harriet Potter! I thought that Fred and George were lying when they said that they knew you!" she exclaimed as she gave Harri a hug around her waist. It took five minutes and a lot of pulling, but they finally got Ginny off of Harri.

"Harri, this is our little sister, Ginny. Ginny, this is Harriet. Please refrain from jumping on top of her like a lunatic," Fred said introducing his little sister to one of his best friends.

Harri put her hand out for Ginny to shake and the eleven year old took it. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ginny. I hope we'll be friends at Hogwarts."

Ginny squealed and ran off to mingle with people, leaving Harri and the twins to watch her in amusement. "I think your sister is going to do very well at Hogwarts. She's already half mad…" Harri commented as she winked to the twins and went to greet Wendi and Viktor, who just arrived.

"Hey, it's great to see that you both came!" Harri said to them as she gave both of them a hug.

"It vaz, nize of you to invite us," Viktor replied with a smile. Even though his English was far from perfect, he got his point across.

"Hermione and Draco are over by the far wall talking to the twin red heads over there, if you want to spend time with them," Harri directed her friends by pointing to where the Weasley twins' red hair could easily be seen. Harri knew the twins wouldn't pull a prank during her party, so she wasn't too concerned for their welfare as they walked away.

The young girl looked around the room and noticed that Sirius was wearing his serious face while he was talking to Mrs. Weasley and that bothered her. She saw him lead the older red head out of the room and into the hallway. Harri, being the curious twelve year old that she was, followed them, hid right out of ear shot and found a spot where she couldn't be seen.

"We aren't discussing this at Harri's party. I don't care what you say. I'm raising her correctly," she heard Sirius say. Harri's heart sank. She was worried that this discussion was about her, she just hoped that it wasn't too bad.

"I'm just worried that, without a mother, Harriet isn't being raised properly. Sirius, you're never home, and you have your cousin watching her. Are you sure that's how James and Lily would want their daughter raised?" Harri heard Molly Weasley ask. Why did everyone think that Sirius couldn't raise her properly? It isn't like she's in the bottom of her class and always in detention.

Harri was hoping with all her might that Sirius wasn't going to agree with her. She didn't want to be sent away to live with her relatives.

"Molly, you have no say on how I raise my daughter-"

"She isn't your daughter!"

Harri figured that this was the best time to make herself known, discreetly of course. Tonks had just arrived so she figured now was the best chance for her to distract her godfather. She backed up a few steps, pointed her head down and walked into the hallway, backing up when she almost bumped into Mrs. Weasley and Sirius. "Oh, Sirius, I was looking for you! Tonks just got here!"

It was obvious that Sirius had an internal battle on whether or not to stay, but the temptation to humiliate his friend won. "This isn't over." Harri heard her godfather hiss to Mrs. Weasley before leaving the hallway.

She sighed and played with her braid nervously for the rest of the night. She knew that Sirius was on edge and was avoiding her. Mrs. Weasley kept sending him glares all night when she thought no one was watching.

Harri opened her gifts towards the end of the party and was glad because she didn't know if she'd been able to wait to open the Weasley twins' 'real' gift if she opened them earlier. Remus bought her a book on advanced DADA spells, while Sirius got her a pair of quidditch gloves that she had been looking at a few weeks earlier, Hermione gave her a quill that changed colors as she wrote, Draco gave her a book on astronomy (the constellation Sirius was on the cover), Neville gave her a miniature cactus that she found adorable, Tonks gave her a book called _2000 Different Spells to Ward off Unwanted Wizards_ (which amused Harri a little too much for her male friends liking), Wendi gave her a charm for her bracelet in the shape of a snitch, Angelina, Katie and Oliver gave her a small broom necklace that would fly around when it was off the chain, and the Weasley twins gave her a free prank ticket with a note written on the back to open their card after their mother had left.

The day ended with everyone going home with extra cake, which Tonks brought with her. It seemed that the day was successful and Harri would be seeing the Weasley family again when they got their school supplies next Wednesday. Even Viktor had fun, though he spent most of his time talking with and listening to Hermione. He seemed to find her interesting and that amused Harri to no end that Hermione blushed at the extra attention.

When she was alone Harri opened the card that the twins had told her to read after everyone was gone:

_Dear Harri,_

_ Happy birthday! You can't open this anywhere near our mum. She would kill us if she even read part of this. _

_ Fred and I have decided to start making pranking products and we're hoping that you would help us come up with ideas and maybe make some potions for us. We'll be talking to you on the two way mirrors at lot. _

_ Of course this isn't your only gift. Fred heard that you had a charm bracelet from Angelina, so the two of us had to get you something for it. At the bottom of the envelope there should be a little charm that will remind you of us._

_With Hopes of Pranks and Fun,_

_Fred and George_

Harri found two little fox charms at the bottom of the envelope and smiled, that definitely reminded her of the twins.

After everything was cleaned, with Draco and Hermione dozing on the couch, Harri approach Sirius, who was in the kitchen with his head on the table.

"Sirius, I heard a little bit of what Mrs. Weasley said…do you really think of me as your daughter?" Harri asked, trying to sound confident, but failing miserably.

"So, you heard that? Yes, I do think of you as my daughter. I raised you like you were my own. I know that I'll never replace your parents, but I'm doing my best to raise you like they would have. Have I been a decent parent to you? I know I'm not around often enough-"

"Sirius, you're the best parent I could ask for in this situation. I would never think otherwise. What Mrs. Weasley said was really out of line. Even though I never call you dad, you're really my father, I hope you realize that, Padfoot," Harri told him as she left the room to let her godfather think for a while. She needed to get Hermione and Draco up to bed anyway.

She herded her half-asleep friends up the stairs and when she opened the door to her room there was already someone sitting on her bed. Harri stopped short causing Draco and Hermione to crash into her, sending them all on a one way ticket to floor.

When they all looked up Harri recognized the creature to be a house-elf, but what was a house elf doing in her room? The only house-elf she knew was Kreacher and he was at Black Manor. This house-elf was wearing an old pillow case for clothing and had bright, bulging, green eyes.

"Dobby, is that you?" Draco asked from under Hermione, but the elf couldn't hear him. They three of them tried to get off the floor to talk to house-elf properly.

Dobby bowed deeply to them. "Miss Harriet Potter! Such an honor it is to be meeting you!" he squeaked out…then he looked to the left of Harri and spotted Draco.

"Master Draco, what are you doing here?" he asked with his hands on his hips.

"Mum, sent me to live here. The better question is, what are you doing here, Dobby? I don't think my mum sent you here…" Draco replied with a hint of worry in his voice.

"Dobby came here to warn Harriet Potter not to return to Hogwarts this year!" He told Draco frantically.

"Dobby, why would Harri not go to Hogwarts? What's going on?" Draco questioned calmly, he knew that Dobby would punish himself if he spoke angrily.

"You father is back home, Master Draco. He is planning terrible things. I'm forbidden to say anything about it, but he is trying to kill Miss Potter!" Dobby insisted. Draco's eyes widened slightly hearing that his father was out of Azkaban, but let it slide. He was going to have to talk about that with Sirius later.

"Dobby, how about I warn an Auror about this. That way Harri will be safe all year and you won't need to worry about it, but if things change you can come and talk to me about it, alright? I'm in Ravenclaw so don't go into the dungeons and please be careful," Draco ordered the house-elf in a slightly playful tone.

"Dobby, will be careful! Dobby is not worthy of such compassion! He should not have enchanted that cake this morning as a warning for Miss Potter not to come back to Hogwarts!" he wailed and fell on his knees. Draco's eye twitched in aggravation, that cake had attacked him. Dobby didn't know that he was living here, so he'd let the attack go.

"Just try not to stop me from going to Hogwarts anymore. My godfather will know what to do. He's very high up in the Auror department and thank you for the tip that Draco's dad is up to no good," Harri thanked him and winked at the end.

Dobby broke into tears of joy and hugged both Draco and Harri, Hermione was watching the entire scene very confused, and with a crack the house-elf disappeared.

"What was that?" Hermione asked with an eyebrow raised.

"That was a house-elf, they work for wizarding families. I'm surprised that you haven't read anything about them. It doesn't seem like your family treats him all that nicely, Draco," Harri answered with her eyes narrowed. That poor house-elf didn't deserve to be treated the way he did by the Malfoy's.

"My father is out of Azkaban…that can't be good," Draco mumbled as he sat down on the floor of Harri's room in shock.

"Hey, you're living with us. We aren't going to let your father come after you for not being a Slytherin. Now, it's time for everyone to go to sleep. We'll talk to Sirius in the morning," Harri told him with finality.

It took about an hour, but everyone was asleep, except for Sirius, who was still deep in thought in the kitchen. In the morning Harri would find him drooling on the table sound asleep and running late for work.

**So, we meet Dobby. It seems that Draco has some control on what Dobby does since he's a Malfoy, which will come in handy in later chapters. **

**Sadly, I won't be able give you another review goal next week, as of right now anyway. I have placement tests and class scheduling for college to do, so I won't have enough time to write chapters 17 and 18 by Tuesday. If that changes you'll know on Friday when I post chapter 16, which is done. =)**

**Voting:**

**Cedric 7**

**Viktor 6**

**Please review for the next chapter! I love to hear your feedback and criticism!**

**Speaking of voting and reviews, there was one review about Durmstrang being an all boys school. Well, sorry to say it isn't an all boys school., in the books anyway. In the movies it's an all boys school, much like how they made out their French counterpart to be an all girls school. It's a common misconception.**

**The voting is much closer than it was last round. That always makes things interesting. The next chapter will be very interesting and I have plans for chapter 17. I'm going to be adding in another character that doesn't get enough recognition in the books.**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter.**


	16. Chapter 16

**I love the title of this chapter...=) See you at the bottom. I have some pretty important news for you all!**

**Chapter 16**

**The Creature Called Gilderoy Lockhart **

The week passed by chaotically, with Lucius out of Azkaban. It wasn't long before Draco could be in real danger from his father. There was no telling what an ex-Death Eater would do to his son for befriending Harriet Potter, and then going off to live with the man that put said Death Eater in prison in the first place.

Harri noticed that Sirius was working in his office till the early hours in the morning trying to figure out if Lucius could take Draco back to Malfoy Manor. She found out that he eventually came to the conclusion that Narcissa had written up the contract so that if Lucius did get out of prison, he couldn't take Draco back. What Harri didn't understand was what Sirius' cousin was doing all of this…and her answer came in the mail Tuesday morning.

Harri and Draco were waiting for Hermione to come out of the shower so they could all go down and eat breakfast. They were leaning on the wall in the hallway talking quietly, but they were interrupted when they heard cursing from downstairs, and not the magic kind. Harri could hear Hermione knock something over in the bathroom from Sirius' outburst. She opened the door a few seconds later completely ready except for her a brush stuck in her hair, which she quickly pulled out.

"Was that Sirius? Doesn't he know there are children with impressionable minds living in this house?" she asked sharply.

"He usually doesn't curse unless something really bad has happened," Harri replied with a worried frown as she looked down the hallway towards the stairs. Her two friends could tell that she just wanted to go and check on her godfather.

"Draco, I got a letter from your mother! You're going to want to know what it says!" Sirius shouted.

"I guess I better go down there…" Draco said, but he didn't move from his spot on the wall. It looked more like he wanted to disappear into instead.

"Come on, we'll go with you. I know you don't want the letter to have bad news on it. Sirius would have called you down differently if it did," Harri reassured him. She took one of his arms while Hermione took the other. The girls led him to the kitchen where Sirius was sitting at the table, holding a handful of parchment. A small key could be seen on the far side of the table with another note under it.

Harri pushed Draco and he stumbled forward, nearly tripping. She motioned for him to keep going with a flick of her hand. The blonde glared at her, but he kept moving anyway.

"Sirius, what did the letter say?" Draco asked nervously.

Sirius sighed, it was obvious that he was dreading this conversation. "Your mother sent me something very interesting concerning you and your father. Upon finding out that you were living with me and that I was your legal guardian, your father has decided that he wants to disown you, which means you're no longer going to be considered a Malfoy, according to Lucius. Your mother still considers you part of the family," Sirius began to explain to Draco calmly, but Harri could tell that her godfather was starting to lose his composure. Harri knew that Sirius had gone through the same thing as a teenager and he was probably feeling a bunch of different things trying to explain this to Draco.

"But, your mother knew that he was getting out of prison and put your trust fund in my hands, so you will have money to your name. None of us thought that he would get out of prison so soon, otherwise we would have had you living at home."

"So, basically, I have no name or no real home anymore," he said dejectedly.

"Well…that's where you're a little off, my fair haired Ravenclaw. You can consider this your home for as long as you want and you're more than welcome to take the last name Black, since it's my last name and your mother's," Sirius told him halfheartedly. Sirius knew that this was a lot to take in at once.

"I suppose so. We'd be siblings, wouldn't we, Harri?" Draco asked his best friend with a quavering smile.

"In everything, but blood," she replied with a smile. She had always wanted a brother.

The clock in the corner of the room rang out in a small tune. When Harri looked at the time it was nine. "Sirius, you're going to be late for work! You have to be there in fifteen minutes!" Harri told her godfather, who, at her comment, flew from the chair he was sitting in to get ready for work.

Sirius left on time and Remus arrived ten minutes later to watch the three preteens. Later that morning, Harri opened the refrigerator and found something Sirius needed for work. "Remus, Sirius forgot something again! I'll go and drop it by the Auror office!"

Remus shouted a muffled reply of "okay" from somewhere else in the apartment and Harri got her shoes on to head to the Auror office.

Harri sighed, how Sirius forgot something as important as the object in her hand she'll never know. Then she goes to the fireplace in Sirius' 'study' and used the floo network to get to the Auror office, where she finds Kingsley manning the desk.

"What did he forget this time while he was rushing?" Kingsley asked, used to Harri coming to drop off something Sirius forgot.

"His wand," Harri replied with an amused grin.

"Where was it?"

"The refrigerator."

Kingsley chuckled at her answer. He had never met an absentminded Auror as successful as Sirius.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully and none of the second years could wait for the next day when they would head to Diagon Alley.

When everyone went for breakfast the next morning they were greeted with the three letters from Hogwarts on the table. Sirius and Remus, who had arrived early that morning to help his best friend with the school shopping, were watching the three second years run to the table and open their letters:

_SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS WILL REQUIRE:_

_The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk_

_Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart_

_Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart_

_Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart_

_Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart_

_Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart_

_Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart_

_Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart_

"Who's Gilderoy Lockhart?" Harri asked with a frown. She liked there to be more diversity in her school book list and these books didn't even sound very appealing. She knew for a fact no one could wander with a werewolf and survive, and here she was hoping for a decent defense against the dark arts curriculum.

"How have you not heard of him? He's written so many fantastic books!" Hermione said with a slight blush on her face.

"Wait, I've heard that name before…Gilderoy Lockhart, didn't we use hex him for trying to take the credit for our pranks?" Sirius asked Remus thoughtfully.

"Yes, he was a Hufflepuff two years behind us. Boy, did you and James put him in his place," Remus replied with a smile playing on his lips. James and Sirius used to do the craziest things back at Hogwarts.

"You're telling me, that some half-wit wrote the books on our list?" Draco asked the two adults in the room. He had come to the same conclusion as Harri and realized that this book list sounded like a joke.

"That's exactly what we're telling you," Sirius replied. He felt really bad for his goddaughter and her friends. They were going to have to deal with Lockhart's books all year, and if they were extremely unlucky, they would have to deal with them for the rest of their time at Hogwarts.

"He can't be that bad if Dumbledore approved the book list," Hermione said hopefully.

Harri decided to she was going to save her first impression of Lockhart's books when she read them.

To her surprise there was a chance to meet Lockhart because he was signing books in Diagon Alley when they arrived with the Weasley's. The twins snickered at their mother's flustered when she saw that THE Gilderoy Lockhart was signing books.

"Mum's got a bit of crush on him," Fred and George told the group with a smirk. That earned a good laugh from Sirius and Remus, much to the twins delight. A few minutes later the group split up. The twins went with off with their friend Lee Jordan, Ron met up with Seamus, Percy went to buy a quill, Sirius, Remus and Mr. Weasley all went to the Leaky Cauldron, Mrs. Weasley took Ginny to get some robes, and that left Harri, Hermione and Draco to amuse themselves till they met back up with everyone at Flourish and Bolts in an hour.

The three wandered around for quite a while before they settled on eating some ice cream that Harri bought before either of her stubborn friends could protest. They joked around and talked about what they expected to learn during the year when someone tapped on Harri's shoulder, making her jump.

She spun around in her chair to find out that it was Cedric. She noticed, that like the twins, he had gotten taller over the summer, making her feel much shorter than she already was.

"Hello, Cedric, how are you feeling? I know that you said you were under the weather last week," Hermione asked concerned for him.

"I'm much better. A few potions and I was right as rain. Thank you for the concern Hermione. I bet the twins were happy I wasn't there," he replied.

"I'm not going to lie and say they weren't…you're just a little up tight for them. You need to break some rules Cedric, loosen up," Harri told him grinning at the look of absolute horror on Hermione's face.

"Don't listen to her! She's trying to corrupt you!" Hermione nearly shouted, causing Cedric to jump at her sudden outburst. Harri could see that Draco was trying not to laugh at the scene before him, but he was failing miserably. Harri smiled at the scene. She knew that a few months with Sirius would cause Draco to lose some of his aristocratic behavior.

"Corrupt me? Do you think you can save me, Hermione?" Cedric asked with a raised eyebrow, "How do you know that you yourself aren't corrupted as well?"

Hermione blushed a bright pink at his comment and stuttered over a few words before not bothering to reply. She just put her head down on the table very flustered.

"She knows I was kidding right?"

"Yea, she's just recovering. It's rare for someone to leave her speechless," Draco said with a smirk.

When Hermione raised her head she was glaring at Draco, but was also looking at something behind him and gasped. "We're late! We were supposed to be at Flourish and Bolts five minutes ago!"

Harri and Draco exchanged looks of dread and got up slowly only to be dragged in the direction of the book store. They both waved goodbye to Cedric who was still sitting at the table watching in amusement.

They walked up to the book shop and noticed that Sirius and the others were all gathered around the crowded entrance. "Bambi, there you are. Remus and I were going to send a search party after you," Sirius told her and wrapped her in a hug as soon as she got within arm's reach of him.

"Sorry, we were talking with Cedric Diggory and lost track of time," Harri replied offhandedly, knowing the twins wouldn't be happy about it, but she winked at them when they glared at her.

"When they entered the store they saw that most of the witches were around Mrs. Weasley age and were all trying to see Lockhart, who was surrounded by a bunch of grinning pictures of himself.

Harri's first impression of him was that he was conceited git, but she could be wrong…though she doubted it.

Much to her annoyance there was a photographer running around the store trying to take pictures of him. She rolled her eyes and nearly shoved him when he stepped on Draco, nearly knocking him over.

"Will you kids keep out of our way, these pictures are for the Daily Prophet," he snarled. Harri was about to punch him, when Lockhart looked over their way and grabbed Harri by the arm and took the photographer out of punching range, much to her annoyance. She was even more irritated by the fact that he had _grabbed_ her without her permission.

"Harriet Potter, what a pleasant surprise! You and I together will be worth the front page!" he said happily as the camera flashed in their faces.

Harri did her best to escape, but as soon as she moved a few paces away from the man he pulled her back over to his side. All of the sudden the book Tonks got her for her birthday seemed very appealing.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Lockhart shouted, waiting for silence. Harri was frantically searching the crowd for Sirius' face and she found him near the back looking like he was going to kill Lockhart, which calmed her down quite a bit, especially since he was moving towards the front to get to her. "Now, young Harriet only came here to get my biography, which I will give her free of charge-" the crowd burst into applause. Harri was confused, when did she say that she going to get his biography?

"I'm also happy to announce that I will be taking the Defense Against the Dark Arts position at Hogwarts this upcoming year!"

Harri was given his entire works by the time she left the table and nearly fell due to the immense weight. She made her way to where Sirius had moved with Ginny and Draco. "Here, take these. I'll buy my own," Harri said with a grunt as she dumped her books in Ginny's cauldron. The younger girl blushed and nodded happily.

"You alright? I noticed that he snatched you rather roughly," Sirius asked worried over his goddaughter's safety and wellbeing.

"You enjoyed that, did you, Potter?" a familiar sneering voice asked from behind her. Harri turned around to see Alya standing there with a scowl on her face.

"How can you say she enjoyed that? She looked miserable!" Ginny shouted at her, outraged at the older girl's behavior.

"Alya, we don't talk to riffraff like Blacks, Potters or Weasleys," a new voice said from behind Alya.

Harri saw Sirius visibly stiff and move, both her and Draco, behind him. From what Harri could see of the man he had pale blonde hair, waxy and shrunken skin, and a bad attitude. He came over to look at what was inside Ginny's cauldron and took out her transfiguration book.

"Lucius, what a surprise to see you out of Azkaban. It's sad to see that you managed to bribe your way out of prison," Sirius sneered, but the elder Malfoy didn't take the bait and just ignored him.

Lucius' eyes wandered to where Draco's head was peeking out from behind Sirius' back. A cruel smirk made its way to the Ex-Death Eater's face.

"Ah, Sirius Black, the man who put me there in Azkaban in the first place. It seems you have a gift for picking up strays. It's a pity that the stray happens to be my son," Lucius commented hoping to get a rise out of Sirius, but he got one from Harri instead.

"Don't you dare talk about Draco like that, you piece of trash!" Harri snarled at the older man. She didn't care if he was an Ex-Death Eater.

"It's sad to see that your goddaughter is following in your footsteps, she'll die an early death just like her parents," he threatened.

That was when Sirius lost it, he jumped at Draco's father and the brawl began

A shout of, "Get him, Sirius!" came from Harri when Sirius landed a fairly solid blow to Lucius' face.

"Sirius, that's enough!" Remus shouted as he pulled both Lucius and Sirius away from each other, surprising most people in the crowd by his display of strength.

Sirius didn't have a scratch on him, while Lucius had a bloody lip and a swollen eye from his tussle with his wife's cousin.

He tossed Ginny's book back into her cauldron before exiting the shop with an air of defeat.

"Well, that went better than I thought it would," Sirius said joyfully, only to be smacked in the back of the head by a rather large book that Remus picked up.

**Well, that was a nice chapter...kind of. Lucius got smacked! I feel bad for Draco, I'm putting the poor boy through the ringer and it's only his second year, oh well, it makes for interesting writing. I love Sirius' impulsive behavior.**

**So, I said that I had news for you, and for all of you that didn't read Tuesday's author's note, should know that there isn't a review goal this week because I have had no time to write a chapter for Tuesday. Usually, I have Tuesday's chapter done, but I'm only part way through it and I'm not going to give you guys a bad chapter because I was rushing.**

**So, I will give you chapter 17 on Friday. I like to have between a week and five days to edit the chapters I give you guys. (That's why I usually have them written in advanced.) My old stories are riddled with grammar mistakes, so I don't want this one to turn into one of those stories. (I don't have a beta and edit all my own work.)**

**Someone asked me who Harri was going to end up with and sine George won, she's going to get together with George sometime later in the series. I'm not telling you when or I'll ruin the surprise. ;)**

**Now, thank you for all your lovely reviews! I'm so happy that you're all sticking with me! And welcome to all the new readers, please review and give me your input. **

**Here's the voting:**

**Cedric: 12**

**Viktor: 11**

**Wow, the voting is really close for this, I like it. =)**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter**


	17. Chapter 17

**Wow, it's been a week already. Craziness! I hope that everyone who is on their summer break is enjoying it, I know I am. See you at the bottom! **

**Chapter 17**

**Constellations and Dreamy Eyes**

September first came around quickly for Harri, Hermione and Draco and before they knew it they were at Kings Cross Station, saying their goodbyes before getting on the Hogwarts express. Sirius was there along with Remus. Both of the Marauders looked sad to see the kids go off to school.

"It's going to be quiet in the house again! I might actually get to work on time because I'm bored," Sirius complained.

"Yes, because that would be terrible," Remus replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes. He knew that Harri would write as soon as she got the chance and Sirius would be reading him the letter with too much enthusiasm. The werewolf had always wondered why Sirius hadn't adopted Harri officially and he figured that he would have to ask his friend soon.

"Now, get into as much trouble as possible, don't get caught by your Professors, and if Lockhart gives you trouble, remember the book that Tonks gave you or Owl me or Moony," Sirius told Harri and Draco when Hermione wasn't listening.

Harri smiled at her godfather's behavior and gave him a tight hug. She was going to miss him. "Okay, just promise me that you'll get to work on time and not burn the house down."

"I'll do my best, but you know how kitchen fires love me," Sirius replied with a grin as he remembered all the times he set the kitchen on fire.

"I'll watch him, Bambi. The train is going to leave soon, you might want to find a compartment," Remus suggested to his honorary niece. She nodded and pulled her friends onto the train.

Harri, Hermione and Draco walked through the train trying to find a compartment with enough room for the three of them. They eventually found one with only a single occupant in it. Harri didn't recognize her, so she figured that she must be a first year. She had dirty blonde hair and grey eyes with flecks of blue in them, her wand was tucked behind her ear in a manner that would make most Aurors cringe and she was reading the Quibbler upside-down.

"Hello, is there anyone sitting in here?" Harri asked politely. The girl turned to her with wide eyes and shook her head.

Harri shrugged her shoulders and moved her trunk into the compartment. Hermione was hesitant at first, but followed suit. Draco came in last and gave the girl a shy smile as a greeting.

The three got situated and sat down. Draco pulled out a book and began to read, while Hermione and Harri were trying to strike up a conversation with the girl sitting across from them. "So, what's your name?" Hermione questioned the younger girl with honest curiosity.

"Luna Lovegood, who are you?" she replied without taking her eyes off her magazine.

"I'm Hermione Granger, this girl next to me is Harriet Potter and the blonde reading next to her is Draco Malfoy," she answered happily.

"Malfoy? I heard your father was one of You-Know-Who's most dedicated followers. I hope you're okay with him being out of Azkaban," she said offhandedly.

"Well, my last name isn't really Malfoy anymore. Hermione keeps forgetting. I go by the last name of Black now and I'm not really all the comfortable with my father out of prison. He obviously blackmailed someone enough to get out. So, are you a first year?" Draco replied changing the subject.

"Yes, I'm very curious about all the hidden creatures at Hogwarts," she told them excitedly. This was obviously something she was very passionate about.

This peeked Draco's interest, but Hermione rolled her eyes. She had read about the majority of Hogwarts' hidden beasts and didn't think that many of them were hiding.

"Have you ever heard of nargles?" she asked with her head tilted to the side as she asked the question.

"No, what are they?" Harri answered curiously. She had never read anything about them.

"They don't actually exist, Harri," Hermione told her friend with narrowed eyes. What was Harri playing at when she humored Luna's crazy accusations?

"Calm down, Hermione. So, Luna, tell me about nargles," Harri said quickly and Luna didn't disappoint her with her answer. She told Harri and Draco all about the creatures that her and her father looked for during the holidays. Once she finished talking the compartment lulled into silence.

Draco pulled out his book again and began to read, Luna was reading her magazine again, and Hermione was staring out the window. Harri, on the other hand, was bored.

"What house do you want to be in?" Harri asked after a few minutes of silence passed awkwardly.

"Ravenclaw would be nice…maybe Gryffindor, if I'm feeling brave. I don't think Slytherin or Hufflepuff would work for me. What houses are you in?"

"I'm in Gryffindor with Hermione and Draco is in Ravenclaw, though, he spends all his time with us Gryffindors," Harri said to the younger girl with a smile.

"Why weren't you put in Gryffindor, Draco?" Luna asked curious. She was honestly interested in why someone who wasn't in Gryffindor would spend all their time with the lions.

"Apparently, the sorting hat said that my analytical mind would be better suited for Ravenclaw, even though I would have done very well in Gryffindor. On top of that, I knew my father would kill me when he got out of prison if I was in Gryffindor. He could handle the fact that I was in Ravenclaw," he answered honestly.

Partway during the train ride the compartment door slid open to reveal Ginny Weasley. She had an embarrassed look on her face when she spotted Harri sitting next to the window. "Hi, Ginny," Luna greeted with a faraway smile.

"Oh, H-Harri, I see you met Luna. I'll see you all at Hogwarts!" she squeaked as she ran out of the room.

"The twins say that she's obsessed with me. It's a little concerning…" Harri said a few moments later.

"She does talk about you quite a lot. Our parents are friends, so I've known her for a while," Luna told Harri while she read. A few seconds later the wand behind her ear slid out and rolled to the floor with a light tapping noise.

Luna was about to bend down to get it, but Draco picked it up. The blonde Ravenclaw admired the wand before handing it back to her.

"You might want to put a very light sticking charm on it when Flitwick teaches you how do it. That way, it won't fall all the time," he advised before he went back to reading.

The rest of the ride passed uneventfully. The group swapped stories about their childhoods and discussed the major differences between them.

When they arrived at the school Luna had to take a boat with the other first years, while Draco, Harri and Hermione took the carriages to the school. Harri figured that it would be interesting to see a sorting instead of being the one sorted.

Though, when she arrived in the Great Hall she noticed that Alya and her friends were glaring at her, and Draco, who was sitting at the Ravenclaw table with a book open next to him, bored out of his mind. Some things, Harri figured, would never change, no matter what how old they got. The only thing that she found different about the hall was Lockhart, who was sitting at the teachers' table, looking like a prat. The other teachers were glaring at him, especially Snape. Harri figured it was better Lockhart then her.

"I kind of hope that Snape hexes him," Harri stage whispered to the twins, who were sitting across the table from her. The three of them tried not to laugh, but failed miserably. They were scolded by Hermione a few moments later for being disrespectful to a teacher, but she gave up and called them all hopeless.

"I was raised by Marauders…tomfoolery and pranking is in my blood," Harri commented just loud enough for the twins to hear.

"We are not worthy!" The twins began to chant, but Dumbledore cleared his throat and they realized that the entire hall was staring at them strangely. The two quieted right away and the first years filed in. Harri waved to Luna, who was skipping, unlike the other first years who were shakily walking in a mess of a line. Luna waved back with an excited smile.

The hat sang a song that Harri really didn't pay attention to, one song during her own sorting was more than enough for her. Instead, she and the twins were guessing which house the new first years would be placed into.

It wasn't long before the actual sorting started and the first new Gryffindor was a kid named Colin. He had a camera around his neck and jumped up happily as he made his way over to the scarlet and gold table.

A few more kids made it into Gryffindor, but most were in Hufflepuff, a handful were put into Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Soon enough, Luna was called up by Professor McGonagall.

The girl skipped up the stool and sat down, a content smile on her face as the hat was placed on her head.

Silence filled the hall for a good five minutes. Everyone was staring at the girl with the hat over her head, wondering what house she was going ' placed in. Eventually, the hat shouted, "Ravenclaw!"

Harri grinned as Luna made her way to the Ravenclaw table and sat down right next to Draco. The blonde boy jumped by the unexpected company and closed his book to make room for the dreamy eyed girl. Harri was glad that Draco had a new friend that was actually in his house.

Before the group knew it, Ginny was up and ready to be sorted, it wasn't surprising when the hat shouted, "Gryffindor!" The twins clapped the loudest out of anyone in the hall for her as she made her way over to the table. She sat near the other sorted first years with a huge smile plastered on her face.

Dumbledore spoke a few words before the food appeared. The students ate with gusto before being herded out of the room like sheep.

The prefects led the way to the common room and told everyone the password. The Fat Lady greeted the new first years as they walked into the common room. Hermione and Harri walked up the stairs to the girl's second year dormitory and got ready for bed.

Harri figured that she should write to Sirius before she went to sleep, since he'd want to know how the first few moments of her second year went.

_Dear Padfoot and Moony,_

_ I know that I could be using the mirror right now to talk to you, but I decided to keep you waiting a little while longer. I have some pretty interesting news. Okay, first, Draco has a new friend in Ravenclaw with him. Her name is Luna Lovegood, she seems really interesting. _

_ Second, Snape seems to hate Lockhart more than me! I really hope that Snape hexes Lockhart sometime this year, otherwise I will. I don't know how I'm going to survive this year with him as a teacher. I know that I'm going to be reading more of that book Tonks gave me for my birthday. Did you know that the spells get more violent the farther you get into the book? I've read of some pretty nasty curses I could use on him if he annoys me too much._

_ On a less news worthy note, Ginny Weasley was sorted into Gryffindor, but we both knew that would happen, everyone in Hogwarts knew that would happen. So, I hope that all is well back home...no fires, right? I know that you get antsy when no one is running through the house, just know that Draco and I miss you._

_ Oh, I better finish this letter soon. Hermione wants to go to sleep. Hope to hear from you soon._

_Lots of Love,_

_Harri_

**It isn't my longest chapter, but I think it was still pretty good, since I had to make up the chapter completely. So, as many people were hoping, I brought Luna in! And the review goal is back this week. I've already finished chapter 18 and it's a long one. I hope to finish 19 by Tuesday, well I really don't have much choice in the matter.**

**Okay, thank you everyone for all your awesome reviews! I'm glad that many of you liked that Sirius left his wand in the refrigerator and Cedric's first appearance. Now, the voting is getting interesting because of the funny opinions of the voting fans. Anyway, here is the results so far!**

**Cedric: 19**

**Viktor: 15**

**The voting is still close! So keep it up! There was one questions about if Peter was going to come in again, well, he will, most likely towards the end of the second book. If anyone has any questions, please don't be afraid to leave it in the reviews or PM me.**

**The review goal this week is 256! I hope you can make it! **

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter. =)**


	18. Chapter 18

**So, this chapter was fun to write. I'll see you all at the bottom. I have some interesting news...**

**Chapter 18**

**Is DADA really a jinxed job? Well, it is now.**

Harri wished that her first day of classes had started better. For one, Hermione was reading Voyages with Vampires and was impressed with their defense teacher. Two, she had yet to find an appropriate spell to use on Lockhart…maybe she'd talk to the twins later. And three, which had to be the most important, was when Draco came storming into the great hall soaking wet with Luna trailing behind him in a similar state.

After they got their schedules from McGonagall, Harri scanned it quickly and noticed that Gryffindor had Herbology with Hufflepuff first and then the girls went over to Draco and Luna to find out who she and the twins were going to need to hex. Hermione quickly casted a drying charm and the two Ravenclaws sat down at their table now that they weren't soaking wet.

"Who was it?" Harri asked with her hands on her hips. She wasn't going to let anyone get away with messing with her friends.

"It's nothing, Harri. Someone thought it would be funny to charm buckets of water to fall on me and since Luna was standing next to me, she got drenched as well," Draco said dismissively. Harri was about to say something else when Hermione gave her a stern look that told her to drop it.

"I'm going to bring a letter to the Owlry, Sirius is going to want to hear from me soon, you know how nosy he is," Harri told the group with a dramatic sigh that brought small smiles to her friends' faces.

The young Gryffindor walked out quickly, not really caring that she didn't eat a lot for breakfast. Besides going to the Owlry, she was planning revenge on the prats that decided to dump water on her best friend. Harri figured that she was going to need some help…more specifically some red headed help.

"Hey, Harri, what's got you down on this very overcast morning?" two voices questioned her simultaneously. She turned around with a grin and the Weasley twins grinning at her. This was perfect, this was just what she needed.

"Some prats thought it was okay to drench Draco with water as he came down for breakfast this morning and I'm trying to think up some revenge, but I need my favorite trouble making twins to help me," she replied with a smirk. She could almost see the gears in the twins' heads turning, thinking of revenge for their blonde friend.

"Harri, you have come to the right place. Meet us in the common room later tonight and I think between the three of us we can work something out," Fred told her mischievously.

"I've got to drop a letter off, I'll see you two later then?"

"You bet, be in the common room by ten," George reminded before he and his brother turned around and walked in the opposite direction, to most likely cause trouble.

It took Harri a few minutes to get to the Owlry and tie the letter to Hedwig's leg. On her way down she ran into Neville, literally. "I really have to watch where I'm going…" she muttered rubbing her head.

"Sorry, Harri, I had to send a letter to my Gran. Did you know that we have Herbology in first?" he asked her excitedly. Harri knew that Herbology was Neville's favorite subject and she was glad that he enjoyed at least one class at Hogwarts.

"I did, do you want to walk with me to class?" she questioned in reply. He nodded his head with a blush covering his cheeks.

The two second year Gryffindors arrived outside the green houses with the other students and waited for Professor Sprout to begin class, the only problem was that she wasn't there.

"Any idea where Professor Sprout is?" Harri asked Hermione who was standing by herself.

"No, it's strange for her to be late like this," Hermione replied with a worried frown.

A few moments later Professor Sprout could be seen walking across the lawn rubbing her temples with her index fingers while Lockhart was talking enthusiastically next to her. Much to Harri's delight, it didn't seem like the Herbology professor liked the new defense against the dark arts professor.

As the teachers approached Harri realized that Lockhart was wearing a ridiculous turquoise colored robe with a hat with gold trimming. Harri crinkled her nose, she could never understand wizarding fashion, but what he was wearing had to be some sort of fashion disaster.

"Hello, kids!" he shouted towards their mismatched group of red and yellow. "I was just telling Professor Sprout about all the different exotic plants I've come into contact with during my travels, but I don't want you running with the idea that I'm better at Herbology than she is!"

Harri heard Neville growl behind her. She could tell that he was not happy about Lockhart's attitude towards his favorite professor.

"Greenhouse three today!" Professor Sprout told them through gritted teeth. Maybe, Lockhart would be cursed by more than one teacher this year, Harri mused as they all walked towards the greenhouse three, which was known for its more dangerous plants. She could almost feel the excitement rolling off Hermione and Neville at the prospect of getting to work with new dangerous plants.

Professor Sprout unlocked the greenhouse quickly, obviously hoping that Lockhart would take the hint and leave her to teach her class, but the turquoise clad professor just wasn't getting the message. Instead of leaving Professor Sprout to teach he turned his attention to Harri, who he pulled her out of the line of students trying to get into the greenhouse.

"Do you mind if I borrow her for a little bit?" he asked with a disgustingly bright smile. Harri tried to pull her wrist away from him, but he wasn't having it, she mouthed 'help' to her professor before Lockhart slammed the door and left just Harri and himself outside.

"Harriet, Harriet, Harriet…I've heard some troubling news that I needed to address," he said with a creepy smile that made Harri want to take her wand out and hex Lockhart till he couldn't even remember his own name, but she restrained herself, barely.

"Excuse me, Professor, I need to get to class. I don't see why you could possibly need to talk with me since I haven't had your class yet," she snarled as she yanked her hand out of his grip.

"You see, I've heard from a reliable source that you've been living in startlingly muggle conditions over these past few years. I know you're itching for a front page story, but fame isn't everything. I understand that it's my fault, I gave you the first taste, but you can't let it go to your head. It is quite unbecoming of a young witch to want the public's attention."

"Professor, I have no intention of wanting a front page story and my living conditions are perfect for a young witch. Now, if you please, I'd like to get to class before it's done," she snapped, her temper starting to get the better of her.

His abnormally bright smile faltered from her obvious distain of him, but he just kept on talking. Harri decided that she was going to give him hell, with or without the Weasley twins, even though she promised them they could prank him all year. She was going to show him what damage living with a Marauder could do to a defense classroom in less than one class period.

"But you see, when I was twelve, I was just as much of a nobody as you are."

"Professor, I saved the wizarding world-" she tried to tell him, even though she hated her fame, she just wanted him to shut up, but he wouldn't listen to a single thing she said.

"I mean, a few people have heard of you, right? For all that business with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," he said glancing at the scar hiding behind her bangs on her forehead. She was going to hex him if he tried to touch it. "I know, I know it's not quite as good as winning Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award five times in a row, as I have but it's a start, Harriet, it's a start."

"Sir, I have to get to class. I don't care about my fame as much as you obviously do. I wouldn't want anyone to be known for becoming an orphan at the age of one because some moronic wizard decided to kill their parents. I'll see you for defense later today," she sneered opening the door and shutting it quietly, she wanted to slam the door, but figured that it would disturb the lesson and get Hermione mad at her. When she took her seat next to Neville, she noticed that there were an assortment of different colored ear muffs lying on the benches around the room, she hoped that she got a purple one. She also realized that the lesson hadn't started yet, it seemed that Professor Sprout had waited for her.

"Now, then since that distraction is over, let's start the lesson. We'll be repotting Mandrakes today. Now, who can tell me the properties of the Mandrake?"

Neville's had shot up into the air and Harri smiled, she was happy that Neville liked the subject he had major confidence problems. "It is used to return people who have been transfigured or cursed to their original state."

"Very good, Mr. Longbottom, ten points to Gryffindor. The Mandrake also forms an essential part of most antidotes. It is also, however, dangerous. Who can tell me why?"

This time Hermione's hand shot up, almost knocking Harri's glasses off in the process. "The cry of the Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it."

"Excellent, another ten points to Gryffindor. Now, the Mandrakes we have here are extremely young, so their cries aren't fatal yet, but I want you all to get a pair of earmuffs," she told the class and everyone scrambled for a pair. Harri got a pair of purple ones, much to her delight. While Hermione one in a similar shade to Lockhart's robes, much to Harri's disgust. When the class all had their earmuffs on Professor Sprout unspotted the Mandrake and Harri let out a gasp as she looked at the creature that came out. She had read about it over the summer, but she had never seen one before.

The plant looked like a muddy baby with leaves growing out of its head more than anything else. It was easy to tell that the poor thing was screaming at the top if its lungs. As soon as Professor Sprout put the plant into a new pot with fresh soil she gave the class a thumbs up to take off their earmuffs.

"Four to a tray, there is a large supply of pots here compost in the sacks over there and be careful of the Venomous Tentacula, it's teething." The Professor warned as one of the plants that had been inching towards her shoulder, a Tentacula no doubt, slinked away caught.

Harri was hoping when the Tentacula was done teething she could have it eat Lockhart. He did say he was a plant expert after all, he would know how to handle a carnivorous Tentacula.

She was broken from her thoughts when a Hufflepuff that she had never talked to came up to her. "Justin Finch-Fletchley. No need for introductions from you three, you're Harriet Potter, defeater of You-Know-Who, you're Hermione Granger, the top in every class, and you're Neville, the kid that causes almost as many fires as Seamus!"

Harri tuned him out after that and focused on her work. She could have sworn he mentioned the name Lockhart and she gritted her teeth, she didn't like this kid all that much for mentioning him.

By the end of lesson everyone was covered in dirt. They went back to their dorms for a quick wash before heading to Transfigurations, which was something Harri enjoyed more than any other class at Hogwarts, besides Quidditch and sometimes DADA, but she doubted that would enjoy DADA this year.

Since Gryffindor had Transfigurations with Ravenclaw Harri sat next to Draco, who looked like he could use the company. Today, they were working on changing beetles into buttons. The main problem Harri had was chasing her beetle down so she could perform the spell in the first place, but as soon as she cornered it, she changed it into a gold button with red gems in the shape of a lion. McGonagall chuckled at her design choice and gave Gryffindor five points.

Within the next few minutes Hermione and Draco had gotten the spell as well, though their buttons weren't quite as humorous.

When class ended Harri grabbed Draco's and Hermione's schedules to see what classes they had in common. "Hermione, why have you marked Lockhart's lessons with little hearts?" Draco asked as he read the two times tables over Harri's shoulders.

She snatched the schedule back and stormed off towards the courtyard, which was where they usually spent their free time between classes.

"So, want to head to the courtyard with me?" Harri asked with an amused look on her face as she watched her roommate stomp away.

"Sure, I don't think I should sit next to Hermione. She might hex me."

"Good idea."

As soon as they sat down in the courtyard Hermione buried her nose in Voyages with Vampires, again. Harri told Draco about what Lockhart had said to her before Herbology and the blonde was fuming. "What a prat, are you going to ask the twins for help?" he asked her, his usually mirthful grey eyes were a steely shade of grey instead, showing his aggravation.

"No, I think that I'm going to show him what it means to be the daughter to a Marauder and a goddaughter to another. He is going to pay," she replied menacingly, but knowing Lockhart he wouldn't even notice that he was being tormented, oblivious git.

Harri and Draco then started reading possible spells to bother Lockhart with when she felt like someone was watching her. She turned around to see that a mousy haired first year Gryffindor holding a camera was staring at her. The boy had flushed cheeks as he came over to talk to her. Harri was worried, was he sick or something?

"Hello, Harriet. I'm Colin Creevey," he said slightly out of breath. "I'm a Gryffindor as well. D'you think would it be all right if I can have a picture with you? Would you sign it?" he asked hopefully. Harri nearly groaned, she really didn't need people asking for pictures.

"Is the Gryffindor Princess giving out sighed pictures?" an obnoxiously high pitched voice asked from behind her. She didn't have to turn around to know who it was either, but she turned to look anyway. It was Alya and her two Slytherin cronies, Crabbe and Goyle.

"Piss off, Alya," Draco snarled.

She actually seemed surprised by the hostility in her cousin's voice. "Why? I might miss Potter's signed photos," she replied with a nasty smirk.

"Shut up, Alya. You should listen to your cousin for once and leave," Harri said angrily. Alya always got under her skin easily.

"Don't lose your temper, a teacher is coming," Hermione hissed to her roommate.

"What's all of this, what's all of this?" this was the last teacher that Harri wanted anywhere near her. Lockhart was striding towards them, his robes billowing out behind him. "Who's giving out signed photos?"

Lockhart took one look at the camera in Colin's hand and grabbed Harri forcefully to his side. "I should have known it was you, Harriet."

"Come on then, Mr. Creevey. A double portrait can do better than just Harriet, and we'll both sign it for you." To say that she wasn't happy would be an understatement, but the DADA teacher just wouldn't leave her alone.

Colin fumbled for his camera and took the picture a few seconds later. Luckily, the bell rang. Lockhart was distracted by the noise and Harri ran for the castle. Draco was waiting for her by the entrance to the hallway.

"He has it out for you," he muttered darkly. "I'm going to help you hex him. There is no way he should be allowed to harass you the way he is."

"I already have some ideas…"

When they reached the classroom Harri sat down in the very back of the classroom and stacked all of her books in front of her so her creepy professor couldn't see her and she couldn't see him. Draco and Hermione sat on either side of her

When class started Lockhart cleared his throat and picked up a copy of Travels with Trolls and winked at his picture on the cover.

Harri and Draco gagged behind the pile of books and waited for him to speak. "Me, Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award, but I don't want to talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!"

A few people chuckled at his bad joke, most of them were the girls in the class. Harri rolled her eyes, she didn't have the patience for this.

"Today, I figured she should start with a quiz!" he said excitedly and Harri thought that maybe he was a better teacher than she thought.

That was until she read the first question:

1. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?

2. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition?

3. What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?

These questions went on for three pages back to back:

54. When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday, and what would his ideal gift be?

Harri slammed her head on her desk, her hope for a decent teacher in DADA was gone. A half hour later Lockhart had collected and was grading the papers.

"Tut, tut hardly any of you remembered that my favorite color is lilac. I say so in Year with the Yeti. And a few of you need to read Wanderings with Werewolves more carefully I clearly state in chapter twelve that my ideal birthday gift would be harmony between all magic and non-magic peoples."

Lockhart was beyond redemption at this point. He was so busy talking about himself and his fake ambitions that Harri was pretending to strangle him behind her pile of books, making all Gryffindors and Ravenclaws around her laugh, though they tried to contain themselves.

Hermione on the other hand was listening intently and jumped when Lockhart mentioned her by name.

"-but Miss Hermione Granger knew my secret ambition is to rid the world of evil and market my own range of hair-care potions. Good girl! In fact" he flipped her paper over "full marks! Where is Miss Hermione Granger?"

Hermione raised a trembling hand and Draco was trying not to laugh at his friend's behavior.

"Excellent, ten points to Gryffindor, now down to business," he said pulling out a covered cage. That peeked Harri's interest, she was wondering what was behind the cover.

"Now be warned! It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizard kind! You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room. Know that no harm can befall you whilst I am here. All I ask is that you remain calm."

"Great, the cage will be empty because the only thing in he can deal with is the hot air coming out of his head," Harri whispered to Draco, who had his head on the desk laughing silently behind the pile of books.

"Now," he said to the class. "Don't scream, you might provoke them."

He pulled the cover off to reveal Cornish Pixies…the pixies were an electric blue color, only about eight inches tall. They were rocketing around the cage and shaking the bars.

Draco raised his hand in confusion, "Sir, those are Cornish Pixies, they aren't dangerous, just a nuisance."

"Don't be so sure, young man. They can be very devilishly tricky little beasts. Let's see how you handle them."

That's when Lockhart did the unthinkable, he opened the cage. The pixies rocketed out of cage and chaos consumed the classroom. Harri and Draco pulled their wands out ready to immobilize any that got too close.

Two pixies grabbed Neville by the ears and hoisted him into the air. They managed to hook his robe onto the chandelier above them. Ron wasn't having any luck with them either, one had managed to nearly snap his wand in half.

They were grabbing everything they could and were destroying things left and right. Harri dodged a very well-aimed ink bottle that had come hurtling towards her head. She figured that Lockhart ruined his own lesson much better than she could have today.

"Come on now round them up, round them up, they're only pixies," Lockhart shouted. He rolled up his sleeves, brandished his wand, and bellowed, "Peskipiksi Pesternomi!"

The 'spell' had no effect on the creatures, one pixie grabbed Lockhart's wand and tossed it through the open window, Harri and Draco were staring at the Professor incredulously.

"He just made that spell up," Draco said hoarsely.

"Yea, he did," Harri agreed, nodding her head for extra emphasis.

Lockhart dove under his desk and waited for the bell to ring. When it did and everyone quickly fled the room, sadly, Harri, Hermione and Draco were the last three to leave and Lockhart, who was inching towards the door, spoke to them, "Well, I'll ask you three to just put the rest of them back into their cage." And he shut the door in their faces.

"I can't believe him! The nerve he has, making a bunch of second year student clean up his mess," Draco ranted as he put two pixies in the cage.

"He just wants to give us some hands-on experience," Hermione reasoned, while she froze two pixies at once and put them in their cage.

"Hands on?" Harri said dubiously as she waved her wand and immobilized another pixie. "He had no bloody idea what he was doing!"

"Rubbish," said Hermione. "You've read the books, you know what he's done, it's amazing."

"You shouldn't believe everything you read, Hermione. Actions speak louder than words," Draco advised warningly.

**Hi! This was a long chapter to write. I can't wait till the Dueling Club chapter, but sadly we're going to have to wait a while for that one, for about five more chapters, I think. Anyway, I believe that the basilisk has his début in the next chapter...hold on I'm going to check on that...yep, he's in the next chapter. What do you think the name of basilisk should be? I think his name should be Philip, but that's just me.**

**So, the voting for last chapter was interesting, there was a huge spike in votes and favorites, and there was something weird about it. Seven people made an account that day and they all voted for the same person. I really hope that no one is tipping the votes by cheating. I really hope that isn't the case. Though, to be fair if that wasn't cheating and seven people just made an account to favorite my story I'll be counting three of the seven votes. All seven were written in the same style. I like to know who reads my stories, so, when I see a really strange trend in voting, that hasn't happened before I decided to check it out. This is a fair warning, if I see anymore of this than I'm closing the votes and just picking the winner myself. I don't want someone ruining it for everyone. **

**Voting count:**

**Cedric: 23**

**Viktor: 27**

**See what I mean, Viktor usually gets between five and seven votes, but this time he got fifteen, which wasn't normal. So, to all Cedric fans, I would suggest fighting back, fairly. Since there were only four votes for him last week and he usually gets more than that. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited and alerted to this story. You guys destroyed the review goal, so I'm going to have to give you a better one on Friday. **

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter.**


	19. Chapter 19

**So, since no one disagreed with me, the basilisk's name is Philip. Enjoy the chapter! I'll see you at the bottom!**

**Chapter 19**

**Mudblood and Murmurs**

Harri spent the majority of her time over the next few days avoiding Lockhart at all costs, unless she was in his class, then she was silently pranking him. She had to dive into unlocked classrooms to make sure he didn't see her in the hallways. She even ran into Snape one time, when she told him that she was hiding from Lockhart he only gave her detention, that had to be served Saturday night, he didn't take any points from Gryffindor and told her to get to class.

The only person harder to avoid then Lockhart was Colin Creevey. The boy seemed to always find her, no matter where she was. She realized the day after they met that the flush on his cheeks wasn't from a cold, but from an embarrassed blush, because he had a crush on her. Sadly for him, Harri refused to get into relationships with people that liked her because she's the girl-who-lived or before they met her. Idolized infatuation was not something she appreciated, she felt like it devalued her worth as a person.

A few mornings later Harri was woken up to a knocking on her window. She groggily got up, putting on her glasses on her way to the window, and saw that it was Oliver Wood flying outside her room. She was going to kill him, when she looked behind him she saw that it was the crack of dawn.

"What is it, Oliver? Do you have any idea what time it is?" she growled pulling out her wand. She was not a morning person.

"Exactly, it's the best condition for quidditch practice! It's all part of my new training program, now get your broom!" he said excitedly, a mad gleam in his eyes. This was the way he always acted when talked about quidditch. The whole team thought he was a little too obsessed with the game.

"Fine," she hissed as she got dressed, she wouldn't be able to fall back to sleep anyway. On top of that, she didn't want to wake Hermione, who would hex her for waking her up this early in the morning.

When she made it to the common room, Nimbus 2000 over her shoulder, she found the Weasley twins slumped over the couch, obviously the two only made it so far before falling back to sleep.

Harri sighed and shook the boys awake, they didn't disappoint since they rolled off the couch and onto the floor in a heap.

"Morning, boys," she greeted cheerily.

"Morning, Harri," they groaned as they scrambled off the floor and picked up their brooms. Right before they left Colin came running down the boy's staircase with his camera in hand.

"Harri, I heard someone say you name from outside and hoped to find you here before you left! Look the film developed!" he said jumping up and down from excitement.

Harri took a look at the pictures and smiled, despite the fact Lockhart was in them, mostly because her picture-self was violently beating the picture-Lockhart, who had tried to grab her and force her into the picture with him.

"Will you sign it?" Colin asked hopefully.

"No," Harri told him flatly. There was no way she was signing photographs.

"Harri, if you're done talking to your fan, we have to get to practice," Fred teased as he and George went through the portrait hole. Harri quickly followed the twins, but Colin wouldn't take the hint and stop following her.

"Cool! I've never seen anyone play Quidditch before!" he exclaimed and began chatting about all the facts he knew about Harri. The twins were snickering as they listened to the kid annoy her.

She finally got rid of him when they had to go into the changing rooms. When they arrived Oliver was already there with Katie, who was falling asleep on the wall, as well as Angelina and Alicia, who were nodding off on the bench. The twins and Harri sat down on the opposite bench to the chasers and right away their eyes started to droop. Oliver seemed to be the only person in the room truly awake.

"Now, I've spent all summer planning a new strategy so we can win the quidditch cup!" he told them, eyes gleaming. Then, he took out a board with different plays on it. Harri was sitting down next to George and they leaned on each other as they started to doze off listening to Oliver prattle on about different plays.

"So, any questions?" Oliver questioned the team who all shook themselves awake at his chipper statement.

"Yes, why couldn't you have told us all this yesterday when we were all awake?" George asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because we need more practice, now let's try out those new maneuvers," Oliver said with an over enthusiastic grin. If only the entire team could be as awake as him in the morning.

When they walked out onto the field they saw Draco, Hermione and Luna in the stands eating breakfast. "You guys finishing up? We brought you some food and there's a letter from Sirius with your name on it!" Draco shouted.

"We haven't even started, but thanks for the food and getting the letter for me!" Harri replied with a groan as her stomach growled. She shrugged her shoulders, she ignored her growling stomach and kicked off the ground. The fresh morning breeze woke her up much better than Oliver's two hour speech.

Harri decided to race the twins around the pitch for a good five minutes before a very loud clicking noise could be heard. Harri sighed when she saw Colin avidly taking pictures of her. She was going to destroy that camera…

"Who is that? Is he a spy for Slytherin?" Oliver asked Harri since she obviously recognized him.

"No, he's a first year Gryffindor."

"Wood, there's really no reason to believe that he's a spy. The Slytherins are on the pitch, right now," Fred told their captain.

"I booked the pitch…I'm going to clear this up," he growled as he flew down towards the green clad team with their team captain, Marcus Flint in front of the group. Harri, Fred and George followed their captain to make sure that he didn't do anything that he would regret later on.

"Flint, this is our practice time! We go up especially! You can clear off!" Wood bellowed at the other captain.

"There's plenty of room for all of us," Flint replied with a conniving smirk on his face, obviously something was wrong. The Gryffindor chasers decided to come down as well to figure out what was going on. It was strange, the two teams were so different. The Slytherin team had no girls, while the Gryffindor team had four, outnumbering the boys.

"But I booked it!" said Wood who was shaking with rage.

"Ah, but I've got a specially signed note here from Professor Snape," Flint said in reply handing Oliver the note:

_I, Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practice today on the Quidditch field owing to the need to train their new team manager._

"Team manager, you don't need a team manager for a school quidditch team," Fred said incredulously.

"That's where you're wrong, Weasley. Our new manager needs to see our plays and see if we need any more new equipment. Isn't that right, Alya?" Flint told them with a smirk as Alya came out from behind the team of boys. Her usually free flowing, curly black hair was tied in a ponytail and she had a clip board in hand. There was a sinister grin on her face as she walked forward.

"You're Lucius Malfoy's niece," Fred said with a frown, he could tell that this was going south quickly.

"Speaking of Mr. Malfoy, look at what he generously donated to the Slytherin team," Flint said as he and the team showed their new Nimbus 2001s.

"I believe that these out due the old Nimbus 2000 considerably," he added staring at Harri's broom.

By the point, Luna, Hermione and Draco were coming up to the opposing groups, Hermione obviously sensed a fight coming on and wanted to stop it before it started.

"It's obvious that since you couldn't ride a broom to save your life that bought your way onto the team. This is a new low for you Alya," Draco sneered at his cousin as he approached. He was sick of her pushing people around to get what she wanted, it was time he pushed back a little bit.

"You're just jealous that your father is willing to spend money on me and the Slytherin house after disowning you," she taunted right back. To Harri's surprise, Draco didn't back down.

"I'd rather be disowned then live in a house with a Death Eater!" Draco snapped and Alya stood straighter at that comment.

"So you'd rather live in a house with blood traitors and be friends with a mudblood?" she asked condescendingly.

As soon as the words left her mouth Flint jumped in front of the girl right before the Weasley twins tried to attack her. Angelina was being held back by Katie, and Oliver was holding Harri's shoulders, successfully stopping her from attacking the second year Slytherin. Luna had grabbed Draco's arm, stopping him from hexing Alya. Hermione, actually looked confused about the comment that was made and just stayed back, letting the older students handle things.

Harri pulled on Oliver's robes slightly to get his attention and he gazed down at her with a questioning look in his eyes. "Oliver, I'm going to get Hermione out of here, okay? Why don't you talk to McGonagall about the bookings before a full out brawl starts and someone gets banned for fighting."

He nodded weakly and she pulled Hermione, Draco and Luna off the field and into the castle. Harri took them into the Gryffindor common room, much to Luna's delight, since she had never seen another common room before. Harri changed out of her quidditch robes and made her way back down the spiral staircase. Her friends were all sitting down on the couches waiting for her.

"What did Alya mean when she said that? I had never heard that word before?" Hermione asked with a worried frown.

"It's a really offensive term some pureblood wizards use to describe muggleborn witches or wizards. It means dirty blood," Harri explained quietly.

"There are some pureblood families, like my parents and Sirius' parents that believe that blood status is everything. They constantly marry other purebloods. It's just a lot of inbreeding, considering that on some level Harri, Sirius and I are all related, we might be third or fourth cousins." Draco said with a shrug.

"Without muggles and muggleborn witches and wizards the magical world would have died out. Most wizards now are half-bloods, like Harri," Luna added with a smile.

"I don't get the point in all that blood status mumbo-jumbo. My mum was the top of her class and was a muggleborn just like you Hermione. I mean, Alya, Crabbe and Goyle are all purebloods and they can barely do anything correctly in class. Blood has nothing to do with it. It's just something a group of people like to tell themselves to make them feel special…all it really does is give you more money and some social standings in the wizarding world," Harri said with a shrug.

Hermione's full attention was on her friends. She was surprised that she hadn't heard of any of this before. It seemed like it was a rather important part of wizarding culture.

Hermione was about to say something when Harri's stomach growled loudly, causing all the tension in the room to leave as the group laughed. Draco pulled something wrapped in napkins from under his robes and handed it to Harri. She saw a few pieces of toast and a cookie, she was more than happy to eat it.

"Oh, Sirius' letter!" Draco said remembering the letter. He pulled it out of his robe pocket and handed it to Harri while she stuffed her third piece of toast in her mouth. She read it while she nibbled on a cookie:

_Dear Bambi,_

_ Congratulations on your new friend! Tell Luna I say hello and tell Ginny she did a good job getting into Gryffindor. If Luna wants she can spend her holidays with us, the more the merrier! I hope that Lockhart has been leaving you alone since you got to school. There is a story as to why Snape hates Lockhart, but I can't really remember it off the top of my head, we weren't really friends in school, as you well know. Anyway, as long as Snape isn't bothering you, I don't care who he hates._

_ Try to get some pictures of Snape hexing Lockhart if it happens. I'll want to hang them on the wall. _

_ Now, I have some horrible news. It's that time of year again…I have to go and clean Grimmauld Place and deal with Kreacher. What am I going to do without you here to distract him? I'm determined to get my mother's portrait down this year, I'm taking out the wall all together, Moony said he'd help. _

_ So, send all your letters to Grimmauld Place. I'm sure that Hedwig will find the house without a problem, she's such a smart owl._

_Hope to hear from you soon,_

_Padfoot (and Moony even though he didn't write anything)_

Harri chuckled at the end of the letter. She knows that Sirius hates cleaning his family home, but it has to be done every few months, otherwise Kreacher wrecks the place.

"How many houses do you two have?" Hermione asked reading the letter over her friend's shoulder.

"Um, well, there's Potter Manor and then there's another Potter estate in France and I think there's one in Germany as well, though they aren't as large as the one in England. We have house-elves in charge of the other houses, since we can't look after all of them on our own. Sirius just has his family home and the apartment, he sold the other Black estates. The Potters and the Blacks are those old wizarding families with a lot of money. Sirius and I prefer to live in the apartment, we don't like big houses, there was only ever two or three people living in the apartment at once, well now there's between three and four people living in the apartment at one time, but it is still more than enough room for all of us," Harri replied with a shrug.

"Oh," Hermione said as she mulled over the fact her friend was wealthier than she led on.

They talked for a few more hours before they went down to the great hall for dinner and then they all sat in the Gryffindor common room enjoying each other company.

Hermione was reading one of Lockhart's books, while Draco was doing a transfiguration essay that was due on Friday. Luna was searching the common room for nargles. Harri, on the other hand, was writing a letter to Sirius and Remus, telling them all about Lockhart before she had to leave for detention.

_Dear Padfoot and Moony_

_ Well, I have detention with Snape tonight, but it was valid, I was late for class since I was avoiding Lockhart. The git keeps commenting about my living situation and saying that I crave fame. He keeps trying to get me alone as well, I don't get what he's playing at, but I don't like it. So, for the last few days Draco and I have been pranking our new DADA teacher. It's mostly small things, like gluing him to his desk, having his test papers float out the window or make the all desks in the class stick to the ceiling. We even left a fire salamander in his desk. It took him quite a while to put it out. Fred, George, Draco and I have another plan, that I came up with, that will liven up our DADA class. I hope to make the Marauders proud._

_ Anyway, on a more serious note, Alya almost got the tar beaten out of her today when she and the Slytherin team came onto the pitch saying that they had a teacher's note that gave them the pitch even though Gryffindor booked it. I found out from Oliver, the Gryffindor team captain, that they forged the note. They're all serving detention with Madam Hooch for two weeks. _

_ Now, back to Alya, she called Hermione…well I'm not actually going to write it down, but you know what word I'm talking about. Oh, bugger, I have to go to detention. I'll finish the letter when I get back…_

Harri grabbed her school bag and ran towards the potions lab, where she'd have her detention.

She arrived right on time. Snape didn't seem to be in the best of moods when she opened the door, well, he was in a worse one than normal.

"Potter, you'll be cleaning out caldrons," he told her and she shrugged her shoulders and got to work.

Harri hummed to herself quietly as she worked on cleaning the caldrons and Snape didn't seem to mind in slightest. When she had finished the last caldron she heard a bone chilling voice that sent shivers up her spine.

_"Come... Come to me... Let me rip you... Let me tear you... Let me kill you..."_

She only got this sensation when she heard snakes speaking and that didn't happen often since Sirius was deathly afraid of snakes, he said it had something to do with living with snakes all his life. Harri had the feeling he just didn't like them and needed an excuse to be afraid of them.

"Professor, are there any snakes on the Hogwarts' grounds?" she asked worried. She swayed slightly as she stood up, away from the caldrons.

"No, why would that matter, Potter? Maybe you should get to your common room, you've been here for over four hours," he replied watching her nod and shakily leave the room.

She made it back to her dorm and sat down on her bed, Hermione was already sound asleep and she picked up her letter to her Sirius and decided to finish it before she went to sleep.

_ There's a rouge snake running around Hogwarts. I heard it while I was in detention. It doesn't seem like a very friendly snake either, it was talking about killing. I was hoping I wouldn't have to tell anyone about my ability to speak to snakes, I guess Moony was right… I would have to tell my friends about my ability eventually. _

_Please, right back soon, I'm worried,_

_Harri_

**So, Harri is having problems with snakes...poor thing. Anyway, I'm glad that everyone is enjoying this story! I'm trying to get as much done with it before I go away in August, that might be the first time that I don't update on time. It'll break my heart, but moving into a dorm and trying to find Wi-Fi might be a problem. Anyway, that is a long time away, a little less than two months. I plan on getting to the fourth book by the end of August, hopefully, if you reach your review goals that is. So basically, everything is up to you if you want to get more chapters.**

**Back on the topic of the book. I have a really great prank coming up for Lockhart, he isn't going to know what hit him. The Marauders are going to be so proud.**

**So, voting, someone asked me if votes count more than once, I only count the votes for that chapter. So, for this chapter I look at all votes from chapter 18. You guys can vote as many times as you want as long as it's once per chapter. So the same person can vote for Cedric or Viktor in chapters 15-18, but only once. If I see the same user name more than once per chapter I don't count those votes. I hope that cleared things up!**

**Voting:**

**Cedric: 38**

**Viktor: 28**

**The Cedric fans really came through this week for him. I know that I haven't had him in this book that much, but I will be putting him in future chapters. I know where I'm going to bring him in now! I just had a brain storm! So, on a lighter note, I've been reading blogging Harry Potter on SparkLife and it amazing and really funny. So, I would recommend for everyone to check it out after reviewing this chapter...speaking of reviews you guys need a goal for Tuesday!**

**The goal this week is...306!**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter**


	20. Chapter 20

**Sorry this is coming out so late in the evening, my air conditioning broke and I've been avoiding my house all day. I spent the afternoon at the ice skating rink near my house and at the pool. It's like a 100 degrees with humidity, it's horrible. Sleeping is not going to be fun. =(**

**Chapter 20**

**Deathday Party**

The month of October came with a damp chill, which caused a small outbreak of colds among the Hogwarts staff and students. It was noting that Madam Pomfrey couldn't handle with a small dose of a Pepperup of potion, though the potion would make steam come out of the ears of the drinker till hours later. Ginny, who had been looking under the weather for over a week, was bullied by her brother Percy into taking some of the potion. Sadly, the potion made it look like her hair was on fire.

Harri had been avoiding talking to her friends about her ability to talk to snakes for two weeks and all of them could tell that she was stressing out over it. She would sit a little farther away from them and wouldn't talk to them during class. Instead, she'd pay attention to the teacher or doodle on her parchment.

Draco and Hermione managed to convince Harri to come to the library to study with them when she was cornered by the twins, Luna, Hermione and Draco. They had staged an intervention.

"Harri, what's wrong? You've been acting jumpy all week," Hermione asked concerned. Harri had never shut her out before.

"It's nothing, just something that I heard during detention with Snape," she replied, avoiding eye contact.

"Harri, we know that's not true, you might as well tell us or I'm going to write to Sirius soon," Draco told her, hoping that would get an answer out of her.

"Fine, but I just don't want your opinion of me to change when I tell you," Harri whispered. She knew speaking to snakes was nothing to be ashamed of, but it was considered to be a 'Dark Art'. She was the first Potter to be able to speak to snakes in over two centuries. No one is exactly sure where the Slytherin blood is from, but there were some hazy marriages during the Hogwarts Founder's era…so she figured the blood came from there.

"Harri, just tell us, it's nothing we can't handle," Luna said with a smile, trying to comfort her friend.

"Well, when I was five I learned that I had the ability to talk to snakes," Harri began to explain when no one said anything she continued. "Since no Potter in over two centuries has been able to talk to snakes, Sirius and I were surprised when I had the gift. When I had detention with Snape I heard one and it didn't sound happy. It was talking about killing someone. I know that being a Parselmouth is considered a dark art, but it's just talking to a serpent…"

"So, that's what you've been worried about? Harri, we know you aren't a dark wizard…talking to snakes wouldn't change our mind either," George told her as he grabbed her and pulled her into a hug. Soon enough the others joined them and then they almost got kicked out of the library.

During the week, Harri had officially classified Oliver Wood as completely crazy. He had the Gryffindor team practicing in the rain for days on end. Harri figured that she hadn't been properly dry in over a week. Even with the rain she and the Weasley twins had been spying on the Slytherin team. The new brooms made them fast, but that's really only helpful for a seeker. The other positions need a broom that would stop easier. Either way, Harri figured that the Slytherin team was hindered by their team manager more than helped.

Even better than spying on the enemy team was pranking Lockhart, which every grade seemed to participate in. The pranks ranged from flying papers, which was blamed on the breeze outside even when the windows were closed, to spontaneously combusting books, compliments of Harri's temper. Lockhart called werewolves monstrous beasts.

Harri dripped her way back through a deserted corridor after a very muddy practice session to find Nearly Headless Nick looking out the window muttering to himself, "Don't fulfill their requirements half an inch, at that…"

"Is everything alright?" she asked the Gryffindor ghost, shivering slightly from the draft in the corridor.

That was when Nearly Headless Nick ranted on about how he wasn't in the headless hunt because of half an inch of skin. Harri rolled her eyes, she saw why he couldn't get in, he was nearly headless after all, but at the same time…aren't you headless enough when only half an inch of skin is holding your head on your body? She was brought out of her musings when she heard a meow at her foot. It was Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat.

She knew the caretaker was never far behind, so she ducked into one of the many secret passage ways that she had learned from the Marauder's map and hoped that the caretaker didn't find her. He had been in a horrible mood with people dragging mud into the castle, but it wasn't like they could stop the rain that caused the mud.

A few moments later Nearly Headless Nick came through the passage way she was hiding in and smiled. "The cost is clear! I pointed Filch in the other direction!" he told her jovially.

"I wish I could repay you by getting you into the headless hunt. Is there anything I can do to help you?" Harri asked with her head tilted slightly to the side.

"Ah, there is something you could do for me," he said. "I feel like I might be asking too much of you, Harri."

"What is it?" she asked, hoping to help her friend.

"Well, this Halloween would be my five hundredth deathday," he explained. "I'm holding a party down in one of the roomier dungeons. Friends will be coming from all over the country. It would be such an honor if you would attend. Mr. Black, the Weasley twins, Miss Granger and Miss Lovegood would be most welcome, too, of course, but I daresay you'd rather go to the school feast?"

"No, I don't like Halloween. This would be a welcome change," she replied. She really hated Halloween, but at least she'd be spending it with a bunch of dead people this year instead of at a feast where everyone was happy.

"A deathday party?" Hermione said unsure of what to make of it when Harri finally told her and Draco, who snuck into the common room again, about it.

"I've never understood why ghosts like to celebrate their deaths. It's so morbid," Draco commented as he flicked a piece of blonde hair out of his face.

Despite the down pour outside the Gryffindor common room was as cheery as ever. The Weasley twins 'rescued' a fire salamander and were attempting to find out what would happen if they fed the animal fireworks. As soon as the fireworks entered the fire salamander's mouth the little creature went flying around in circle emitting sparks from its mouth.

The entire common room was laughing at the scene, the deathday party completely forgotten. The room got louder when Percy Weasley came down from the sixth year dorms to yell at the twins for causing a disturbance, but the fire salamander flew over his head spitting out red stars as it fell into the fire.

By the time Halloween rolled around Harri was bored, yet stressed. Lockhart kept trying to get her alone, the deathday party was only a few hours away and Sirius had yet to answer her letter.

At seven-o-clock Harri, Draco, Hermione and Luna all went down to the deathday party, the Weasley twins had a prank to pull during the Halloween feast and couldn't come with them. The room itself was full of ghosts bathed in a ghostly blue light given off by the candles hanging on the walls. The temperature in the room was that of late winter. The small group had to put warming charms on their cloaks to keep themselves at room temperature.

Luna was enjoying herself much more than her three older friends. She was admiring all the different creatures that were flying around the room and admiring all the ghosts that she'd never met before.

Most of the Hogwarts ghosts were attending the party along with many others that Harri didn't recognize, but there was one ghost that Hermione gasped when she saw her.

"Oh, dear, it's Moaning Myrtle. She haunts the girl's bathroom on the first floor. I'm surprised that you haven't met her before, Harri," Hermione explained watching the ghost warily.

"Well, I don't really wander around the first floor that often, not since the troll incident last year," Harri replied.

The four of them walked around the room for a while and mingled with ghosts until Peeves came up to talk to them. Peeves didn't mind Harri, since she was the daughter of a Marauder. They taught Peeves a lot of tricks and it seemed like Harri was following in their footsteps.

"Hello, Peeves," she greeted happily. Peeves saluted her and then an evil glint coated his eyes.

"I heard you talking about Myrtle. I think I'll call her over! Oye, Myrtle!" he said with a smirk. Hermione looked worried, but Harri knew better and decided to play along.

"That would be lovely Peeves! I've never met with Myrtle before!" Harri replied and Peeves grinned.

Myrtle came floating over with a very glum look plastered on her face. "Hello, Myrtle, it's nice to meet you! My names Harriet, but you can call me Harri if you want," Harri greeted happily. Myrtle looked surprised that someone would greet her in such a friendly manner and gave her a weak smile.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Harri. Maybe you can visit my toilet sometime soon," she said before she floated off, much happier than when she arrived.

Harri stuck her tongue out at Peeves, who flipped her off and floated away shouting a string of curses.

Nearly Headless Nick came over to talk to them, but before he could get in a full sentence the Headless Hunt arrived. If Nick could still become pale, all the color would have drained out of his face. As soon as Sir Patrick entered the room Nick went over to try and rectify the situation.

"That was really rude," Draco said with his arms crossed.

"It seems like we aren't needed anymore. Maybe we could go back to the great hall and get some desert, I bet there's still some left," Luna said as she pulled them out of the room. She was getting rather hungry, but didn't want her friends to think that they were ditching Nearly Headless Nick for her.

As they made their way towards the great hall Harri heard the voice of the snake again.

_"…rip…tear…kill…"_

Harri stopped dead in the middle of the hallway causing Draco to knock into her. "The snake is back, but where is it?" She mumbled as she looked up towards the ceiling where the voice sounded like it was coming from.

_"So hungry…for so long…"_

The voice suddenly became fainter and Harri ran after it, her friends sprinting behind her to keep up.

_"Kill…time to kill!"_

"I think it's going to kill something!" Harri exclaimed as she ran faster, now silently thanking Oliver for having her in shape from hours of his sadistic practice schedule.

They finally made it to a corridor only to find that it was empty, except for the writing on the wall:

_**THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE!**_

The most horrifying sight was that of Mrs. Norris, who was hanging by her tail from a torch bracket, frozen stiff, her eyes bulging out in fear. The group collectively stepped back only to step in water.

"We need to get someone," Draco said motioning towards the great hall, but the sound of students leaving meant that the feast was already over. Students filed into the corridor from all sides, crashing into each other to get a better look at the hanging cat.

"Enemies of the Heir beware! You'll be next Mudbloods!" Alya shouted manically, her grey eyes glinting evilly.

"What's going on here?" Filch shouted, no doubt attracted to the area due to the large amount of students crowding it. When his eyes landed on Mrs. Norris it looked like his heart broke. It was obvious to Harri that he really did love his cat. Only when he turned his head to glare at Harri did he begin to scream.

"What have you done to my cat? You killed her! I'll kill you!"

"Argus, stop it. Ms. Potter, Mr. Black, Ms. Lovegood and Ms. Granger please come with me," Dumbledore said as he took the hanging Mrs. Norris with him.

"Headmaster, please feel free to use my office, it's just upstairs," Lockhart began, but Dumbledore just rushed past him, the four younger students following closely behind him.

When they entered Lockhart's room all of his portraits were hiding behind the frames and the room looked even tackier than normal, but Harri was a little too preoccupied with her current problem of being blamed for something she didn't do to notice. She watched as the Headmaster put the cat on the desk and poked and prodded her trying to figure out what was wrong with her. Lockhart on the other hand kept going on and on about different ways he could have saved poor Mrs. Norris from her horrible death, that was until Dumbledore told him the cat wasn't dead, she was petrified.

"I knew it all along," Lockhart said and everyone in the room, including Snape and McGonagall, rolled their eyes at his statement.

"Though, I'm not sure how she was petrified," he told the caretaker with a sad smile. Harri had a feeling that he knew exactly what had done it, but wasn't saying why. She hated when he did that.

"Just ask her!" Filch accused Harri maliciously.

"I don't know how to petrify anything! And even if I did, I don't have a reason to bother you or your cat!" she replied angrily. She was not being blamed for this.

"Headmaster, maybe, Ms. Potter and her friends were just in the wrong place at the wrong time," he suggested with a sneer. Harri raised an eyebrow, was he defending her?

"Then again, why weren't you four at the Halloween feast?" he added putting suspicion back on her.

"We were at Sir Nicolas' Deathday party, he invited us. Harri hates Halloween for obvious reasons, so she wouldn't have gone to the feast anyway," Draco told his godfather with a frown. Draco didn't understand what his problem was with Harri.

"Why did you go up that corridor?" he questioned further.

The four of them looked between each other panicking. Harri didn't want to tell anyone that she was a Parselmouth. That was when Luna did something very brave.

"They were helping me look for nargles. They're very common in that corridor and I was determined to show Hermione that they existed, but then we saw Mrs. Norris…don't blame us for something we didn't do," she pleaded, looking like she was going to cry.

"Well, seeing as how there isn't any proof that they did anything I don't think that the children should be punished," Professor McGonagall said trying to stop Luna from crying under Snape's glare. Luna was her best first year student and McGonagall was not going to stand there and let Snape pick on her.

"My cat was petrified! I want to see some kind of punishment!" Filch shouted. He was obviously hoping to hang Harri and her friends from the ceiling by their toes, but it didn't seem that Dumbledore shared his feelings for punishing them.

"They're innocent till proven guilty and we can cure Mrs. Norris. Professor Sprout has procured some Mandrakes and once they reach full maturity I will have a potion made to cure your cat," he told the mourning caretaker.

"I'll make it! I've made that potion a thousand times!" Lockhart exclaimed and everyone turned to him.

"I believe that I am the potions master at this school," Snape said icily.

After an extremely awkward silence the four students were excused from the room and left as fast as possible without running and went into an abandoned classroom.

"Shouldn't you have told them that you can talk to snakes?" Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, it's considered a dark art. I don't need that going around school. Dumbledore is up to something. He knows what's petrified that cat and I intend to figure it out as well. Tomorrow we start researching in the library to find out what beast is lurking through Hogwarts," Harri replied.

"What do you think it meant by the Chamber of Secrets being opened?" Luna asked the group.

"It's Slytherin's fabled last line of defense for the school. Only someone of his line can open it and unleash the horror inside of it, though I don't think it was supposed to be used to petrify cats," Draco answered. When the girls looked at him like he had grown a second head he cleared his throat and blushed a little bit.

"I read a lot of books when I was still living with my mum and Alya, many of them were stories about the founders of Hogwarts."

The four went to their respective common rooms and waited for the rumors to start the next day. Harri was prepared for the worst of it. People seemed to turn on her quite easily and she didn't know why.

While most people in the school were disturbed by the attack on the cat, Ginny Weasley seemed the most affected. According to her brothers she was a great cat lover. Harri checked on her once or twice in the dorms, but every time she did the younger girl would shrug her off and run away. Harri was almost tempted to write to Mrs. Weasley just to tell her that her daughter was acting off, but realized that she couldn't because Hedwig had yet to return, which was strange, her owl was usually quick with returning letters.

Wednesday morning was when things went from stressful to just plain strange. Hedwig came flying in with the mail that morning with a letter and a box attached to her leg. The letter was from Sirius:

_Dear Bambi,_

_ I'm sorry that it took so long for me to get back to you, but Kreacher broke Hedwig's wing, so she's be recuperating. I also have a can of snake repellent in the box, just in case the snake is dangerous._

_ If that git of a teacher tries to get you alone, please, don't hesitate to hex him and then call me on the two-way mirror. Anyway, I look forward to updates on your pranks! Whatever you have planned for that git of a teacher I have no doubt that you will make the Marauders proud. I can't wait to hear what you do to him._

_ On a more serious note, I hope Alya got what was coming to her and the snake didn't sound friendly? Keep me updated on that. I want to know if I should be pulling you out of Hogwarts. Honestly, first you face Voldemort and now a snake…why isn't Dumbledore doing anything?_

_ I can't wait to see you at Christmas! And tell Draco he can write to me too! I'm not picky on who sends me letters! On a happy note, I got my mother's portrait down and a new wall has been put in. On a more disgusting note, I caught Moony and Tonks snogging in one of the rooms. My eyes will never be able to un-see that._

_Hello, Bambi, it's Remus. Sirius is being dramatic, as per usual, but I do agree with him when it comes to Lockhart, hex him if he tries anything funny. I'm just warning you, don't get caught while you're pranking and do not to use the snake repellent, it smells horrible. It doesn't just repel snakes, it repels humans too. I'll see you at Christmas as well._

_Write soon,_

_Padfoot and Moony_

A few hours later Draco, Harri and the twins were making their way to the library to discuss their master prank against Lockhart when they ran into Justin, who at the sight of Harri ran in the opposite direction.

Harri frowned, wondering why he would have run from her, but she shrugged it off. The four of them went into the farthest corner of the library and were reading a rather large potions book, pointing out the different ingredients that they were going to need for their prank. Draco was the potions maker in the group and had already asked Snape if he could use the potions lab for an experiment and he said yes without question. Draco told them that it pays off to be the godson of the potions master.

"The ingredients were easy to come by, but we'll need to test the potion beforehand, we don't want anything to go wrong and have it kill Lockhart," Draco told them, expecting all of his friends to agree with him.

"Well…" Harri began to say, but Draco sighed.

"Harri, we aren't killing him, but we are hitting him where it hurts. This was your idea after all," Draco told her for the millionth time.

"Fine," she said as she rolled her eyes, grinning madly. She was happy that things hadn't spiraled out of control with the snake monster, yet.

"When should this potion be done?" George asked after a few minutes of reading the list of ingredients Draco was using.

"The first batch should be done tonight, it only takes a few days to make. This prank all depends on how many times I mess it up. I could probably fix it right then and there, but it would be a lot of trial and error," Draco replied as he shrugged his shoulders.

The four of them continued discussing their prank for a good hour and a half, until someone came up to their table. Harri and Draco didn't notice him at first, but the Weasley twins sure did.

"Diggory, what are you doing here? Can't you see that were busy?" Fred said hostilely.

"I actually came here to ask Harri something. Harri, would you mind coming over to a table away from here so we could talk?" He asked politely. Harri nodded despite the glares the twins sent their way.

"What is it Cedric?" Harri questioned her Hufflepuff friend as she sat down at a table ways away from the twins.

"There has been a rumor going around the Hufflepuff house saying that you're the heir of Slytherin. I just wanted to make sure you knew that these rumors were going around, so don't be surprised when people start running from you. I don't get why they would even suspect you, your best friend is a muggleborn and so was your mother. I'm just giving you a fair warning, oh, and get Hermione out of the library. I think she's going to move in here if she stays much longer," he told her, giving her a flirtatious wink on his way out.

Harri flushed bright red and went back to the table with the twins to collect her things for History of Magic. "What did he want? Ask you on a date?" George asked noticing the blush on his friends' face.

"Hardly, he warned me about a rumor going around. It's nothing I can't handle," she replied as she pulled Draco out of the chair and away from the potions book. They had a class to get to.

History of Magic was boring as per normal, but Hermione wasn't paying attention to class, she was busy reading around different snakes. Harri had already narrowed it down to a few creatures, she just needed a few more clues, but she was pretty sure that she knew what kind of snake it was.

On their way back to the common room Harri and Hermione noticed that a bunch of spiders were crawling frantically through the window, trying to escape.

"I think I know which snake is hiding slithering around Hogwarts. They only questions I have is how is it getting around…" Harri muttered. Hermione gave her a puzzled look, but the two of them continued on to their dorm.

"I heard you say you knew what snake it was…so which one is it?" Hermione asked curiously.

"It's the king of the snakes. It's a basilisk, spiders fear them and they petrify people, but the only problem I have is how is a giant snake getting around the school? Basilisks aren't small, Hermione," Harri said with a frown. She sighed and took her glasses off.

"Harri, I think you should get some rest. We don't have classes tomorrow. We can go to the library and figure out snake travel tomorrow," Hermione told her with a weak smile.

Harri nodded and when to the washrooms for a quick shower before hopping into bed.

When she woke up the next morning she put her school robes on and looked in the mirror and screamed at her reflection. She knew who was responsible for this…

"FRED! GEORGE! YOU GITS! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

**So, fun chapter, yea? I bet you can't wait to see what the twins did to her. So, the next chapter will have the prank in it, the one I've been leading up to! =) I have the feeling that you will enjoy it greatly. This was actually supposed to be in two parts, but I put two chapters together and gave you another long chapter. **

**And to make this perfectly clear, the basilisks name is Philip...**

**I just finished chapter 21 and that one is just as long as this one and the one before it. Thank you so much for all your reviews! So, we still have the voting count to do!**

**Votes:**

**Cedric: 47**

**Viktor: 30**

**So, I'll be seeing all of you guys on Friday! Oh, and someone asked if I'd update more if you guys went passed the review goal, sadly I can't managed that many well thought out chapters in one week. One chapter every two or three days is more than enough for me. Oh, and the person who said they'd been waiting ages for my update, it was only three days! I guess you guys really like my writing to have to wait ages, 36 hours, for an update! XD**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter...**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hello, everyone! My air conditioning is fixed! I hope you like the chapter, see you all at the bottom!**

**Chapter 21**

**Run Boys Run**

Harri couldn't believe what the twins did to her hair, it was a dark red and it was moving around like it was alive. She noticed that with her hair red she looked just like her mum. Maybe she looked more like her mother than anyone thought. She was going to send a picture to Sirius when she had the chance. Harri hoped that it would cause him nightmares, he always said she acted just like her mum, now she looked like her too.

When she got her hands on the twins they won't be able to remember their names by the time she was done with them. She wrestled her hair into a tight braid and went down to the great hall to kill her best friends.

Any student that saw her coming down the hallway immediately moved out of her way, most likely afraid that she would hex them, and they were right in their assumptions. Her mood was volatile at the moment and anyone who got in her way was likely to end up in the hospital wing.

She entered the great hall and spotted her targets sitting next to Draco and Luna with Hermione across from them. "Fred! George! You gits are in so much trouble!" she shouted and they turned around and saw her hair. Draco actually dropped the toast he was holding, his mouth was wide open in shock. The twins on the other hand walked up to her and examined her hair, careful not to get to close.

"Your hair wasn't supposed to turn red…" Fred commented as he noticed that her hair changed in color, but not that she was furious with them.

"Does it do anything else?" George asked coming in slightly closer to the enraged witch. When he got within arm's length her waist length braid shot out from behind her and grabbed onto George's arm and pulled him very close to her.

"Does that answer your question?" she snarled. She noticed that George looked a little bit worried at her braid that was coiled around his arm like a snake ready to strike.

"Well, we did tell you that we needed to test it," Fred said trying to calm her down.

"Yes, but not without asking me first!" Harri nearly screamed. She couldn't stand it when they acted like this. Her braid tightened its grip on George's wrist, nearly cutting off the blood flow.

"Harri, you're really hurting my arm," George told her and her eyes widened in shock before her hair let go.

The young Gryffindor sighed and sat down putting her head in her hands. "We made a potion that turns someone's hair red and then acts according to their mood…we're going to need to fix that," she muttered to her partners in crime and Draco wrote down what he probably needed to fix.

"I'll have it fixed by tonight, we're lucky that today is Sunday and that we don't have classes. Ah, I know exactly what went wrong. I added too much beetroot and moonseed. I'll see you later," Draco said as he got up from the table and ran most likely to the potions lab.

Harri nibbled at her food, but was disturbed by Luna lightly kicking her from under the table. Her head shot up and she was about to glare at her friend when she noticed that the blonde was motioning for her to look at the staff table. They were all looking at Harri like she was some kind of ghost come back to haunt them from the grave, especially Snape, who was a very unhealthy shade of grey.

"I guess I look more like my mum than I thought. How long is this stuff supposed to last again?" she mumbled as she looked back down with a blush on her face.

"A week or so, depending on whether you have different shampoo, if you don't then whenever you get new shampoo and then a week for the dye to come out," Fred answered. Harri groaned, she was going to need to send a letter to Sirius for new shampoo.

"So, we're probably going to with the plan tonight after dinner. We just need to get the potion from Draco. Since you were shown Lockhart's office and rooms when Mrs. Norris was petrified you can lead us there!" George whispered to her.

Harri smiled, she couldn't wait for their prank. It was going to make Monday's class so much better. The idea itself was ingenious and it would be impossible for Lockhart to pin it on anyone, since he would never know he was being pranked in the first place.

Later that evening Harri and the twins snuck into Lockhart's office, by covering themselves with Harri's invisibility cloak so the portraits couldn't seem them. They easily got into his room, since he couldn't even preform a locking charm correctly.

Making sure that no portraits were looking, the twins went inside his bathroom. Harri waited for about ten minutes before the twins came back out with the grace of cat burglars and went right back under the cloak.

The three of them made it back to Gryffindor tower without getting caught and ended up laughing hysterically on the couches by the fire. "I can't believe that he has a whole line of hair care products named after himself. I hope our little invention helps his hair!" Fred wheezed through laughs.

"I have class with him tomorrow. I can't wait to see what Draco's modifications do," Harri said with a smirk.

"Speaking of classes tomorrow, we should probably head to bed so we don't sleep through them. We don't need another howler from our mum about sleeping in class," George mumbled as he dragged Fred up to the boy's staircase.

Harri smiled at the twins and let a sigh out, she wasn't happy with them for what they did to her hair, but she'd get over it. It did come in handy when it slapped Alya's wand out of her hand when she tried to hex her. Harri made her way up to her dorm and went to sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, she'd write a letter to Sirius in the morning.

When she walked into great hall the next morning, her hair was still red, but no one was paying attention to that, they were too busy laughing at Lockhart, especially the staff table. His hair was in a rainbow mohawk that was changing colors every few seconds and it seemed that the DADA teacher was completely oblivious to it. It changed three or four more times, much to the amusement of the school.

When the second year Ravenclaws and Gryffindors entered the DADA classroom Lockhart's hair was still changing shapes and it looked like The Thinker as they sat down. Lockhart began a long winded story about his adventures with a yeti and his hair changed according to what he was saying. It changed from a yeti, to a sword, to him fighting the yeti and so on. The class was laughing the whole time, but no one was bothering to tell him why, he just thought that his story was amusing his class.

Well, until Hermione raised her hand. "Professor, there's something different about your hair…"

His hair changed into a question mark as he pulled out a mirror and right before he looked at his reflection it turned back to normal, like his hair had never looked like the Statue of David at breakfast.

"To be honest Ms. Granger I've been using some experimental shampoo. You know that I've always wanted to sell my own brand of hair care products. Thank you for noticing," he thanked her and continued on with the lessons.

Draco and Harri were having fits of silent laughter next to her when his hair changed into a bright pink afro. Hermione was glaring at them the entire time, she was fairly sure that they were behind the prank along with the twins, but she couldn't prove anything since his hair changed back to normal whenever he looked at his reflection.

"You two are insufferable. Pranking a friend is one thing, but pranking a teacher is a completely different matter entirely," Hermione told her friends after class.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Hermione, but whoever did that prank has to be a genius," Harri replied though deep breaths, she hadn't been able to stop laughing since she entered the DADA class room nearly an hour prior.

"Well, I won't talk to you till you either turn yourself in or this prank stops," Hermione huffed. She walked away angrily nearly dropping all the books in her arms when she knocked into a group of older students, one being Cedric. She muttered a quick apology and continued walking away.

Harri laughed when Cedric gave Hermione a confused look and mouthed, 'Is she okay?' to Harri and Draco. The two shrugged their shoulders, unsure of how to actually reply.

"Are these friends of yours Cedric?" A male Hufflepuff that was shorter than Cedric, with incredibly dark short hair asked.

"They are, come on, I'll introduce you to them," Cedric said as he motioned for his friends to follow him to the two second years.

Cedric led three students over that Harri didn't recognize, Draco on the other hand seemed to know some of them.

"Guys, these are my friends Harriet Potter and Draco Black. Harri is in Gryffindor and Draco is in Ravenclaw. Harri and Draco, these are my friends Jason, Theresa and Kaia. Jason is a Hufflepuff like me and the girls are in Ravenclaw," he introduced everyone happily. Theresa was thin, average height, had long straight brown hair, and like Harri, she was wearing glasses. Kaia on the other hand was rather short, with light brown hair and dark blue eyes.

There were awkward greetings given from both groups with Cedric mediating in between, trying to find common interests. They all talked for a little of a half hour, before Harri had to leave for quidditch practice. Oliver was putting them through an exceptionally hard training regimen because on Saturday they were playing Slytherin.

Before Harri and the team knew it, it was Saturday morning. Harri got up earlier than normal and made her way down to the common room to contemplate the upcoming match. She had never wanted to win a match as badly as this one, she wanted to prove that no matter how fast a broom was, it was really skill that won the match.

"Couldn't sleep, Harri?" a familiar voice asked from behind her. She turned around and saw George making his way over to her.

"Yea, I see that you're having the same problem," she replied making room for him next to her on the couch.

"I always get up early before a match. This one just means more to me," he said with a rueful smile.

"We finally get to show the school what Oliver's training has done," she said, remembering all the long and strenuous practicing over the past few weeks. Harri nearly laughed at the expression on George's face when she mentioned quidditch practice.

"I haven't been properly dry since August. The training better pay off," he muttered.

"Well, I doubt he's going to lay off the training even after we win," Harri told him with a grin.

"Don't remind me. Your hair is till red," George said changing the subject away from training.

"I don't have any other shampoo so, thanks to you and your brother, my hair is going to be red for a while," she answered him flicking her hair in his direction.

Harri and George joked around for another hour or so till the rest of the team came down, it didn't seem like any of them could sleep all that well. Oliver was nearly jumping up and down from nerves. The Gryffindor team went down to eat a light breakfast before heading to the locker rooms at eleven.

Oliver gave the team a very long pep-talk, telling them that they had to beat the Slytherin team at all costs. Harri was especially worried when Oliver pulled her to the side and told her, "Catch the snitch or die trying."

"No pressure or anything, Harri," Fred said with a wink as they made their way down to the pitch.

Before they knew it they were in the air and Harri was looking for the snitch, until a bludger came flying at her head. She ducked quickly, the bludger missing her head by millimeters.

George managed to smack it in the other direction, "Close one there, Harri," he commented.

Harri let out a sigh of relief, until it came flying back in her direction. Harri knew that bludgers were supposed to go after everyone on the field trying to unseat multiple people, but it was just aiming at her. She figured that it had to have been tampered with.

The twins were helping her keep the bludger away, but it was causing Gryffindor to lose points. The twins motioned for Oliver to call a time out and he easily got the message.

"What's going on with you two? Why aren't you keeping the bludgers away from the chaser? Where were you when one of the bludgers stopped Angelina from scoring?" he asked, obviously upset with his beaters.

"We're trying to keep a rouge bludger from killing our seeker! It won't leave her alone. I think someone tampered with it," George replied defensively.

"Tampered, I don't see how that could happen, they have been locked in Madam Hooch's office since yesterday," Oliver told them, but Harri could tell that he was actually considering that someone from the Slytherin team had fixed it.

"Look, I know this is going to sound crazy, but I think that you guys should just leave the rouge bludger to me. I won't be able to catch the snitch with you two so close to me anyway," Harri said bravely. She wasn't sure how she was going to pull this off, but it was 'catch the snitch or die trying' right?

The team argued for a few moments trying to convince Harri that leaving her alone with the bludger was a bad idea, but Madam Hooch interrupted them.

"Are you going to play?" she asked with her eyebrows raised.

"Yes, we are," Oliver answered giving a worried look towards Harri, who looked more confident than anyone on the team did at that moment.

As soon as they got back into the air the bludger was back to attacking her. She did her best to avoid it, doing some flips and twirls as it passed by, much to the amusement of the Slytherin seeker. When the bludger whizzed past her left ear she finally saw the snitch, it was right above the opposing seeker's head. She paused for the briefest of moments trying to see if the snitch would move or not, but that moment was interrupted by a loud crack and searing pain. The bludger had finally caught up with her and successfully broken her arm.

Though the pain in her arm was horrible and made her want to pass out, she had one thing on her mind: Get that snitch.

That was when she saw it, a hint of gold near the ground, and with her broken useless beside her, she dove for it. With only one working arm she grasped the snitch and crashed straight into the ground, hitting her head during the landing. The little gold ball was clenched tightly in her hand. "Oh, we won," she said weakly before she promptly passed out.

Harri awoke to see someone kneeling beside her broken arm and it had unnaturally bright, shiny teeth, it was Lockhart. "Ugh, not you," she groaned and turned her head to the side.

"She has no idea what she's talking about," Lockhart said and was about to point his wand at her arm when her hair shot out from under her and grabbed his wand. It then proceeded to chuck it across the pitch.

"Good hair," she mumbled.

Lockhart stood up right away to chase after his wand. Harri really could care less if he ever found it, all she wanted to do was go to the hospital wing and get her arm looked at, she felt like she was going to be sick from the pain.

She then heard a very familiar clicking noise from her left. "Colin, don't you dare take a picture of this," Harri threatened, with as much viscosity as she could, given her current situation.

She noticed one of the Weasley twins was making their way over to her. She realized on closer inspection that it was George, but she really didn't have the energy to care. He knelt down next to her and calmly started speaking to her.

"I'm going to take you to the hospital wing. Wood and Fred are putting the bludger away, it's putting up a right good fight. Oh, and Wood told me to tell you that your catch was excellent."

"That's nice of him," she replied half conscious. She felt a pair of arms lift her off the ground right before she started dozing off in his arms.

"Come on, Harri, you need to stay awake. I think you hit your head," George said worriedly as he looked down at his friend.

"Don't wanna stay awake," she mumbled and her hair swatted him weakly in the arm.

"But you have to. What would Sirius say if you fell into a coma over a quidditch injury?" he asked playfully.

"He'd say 'you're just like your father, a bloody quidditch nut,' or something close to that," she slurred, slightly more alert than she had been.

By the time they reached Madam Pomfrey Harri was nearly asleep, much to the witch's distain, but no matter what George did she wouldn't respond to him, she'd just groan and mutter something incoherent.

"It's a good thing that you brought her here as fast as you did. There's a good chance she has a concussion along with her broken arm. How did she get this injury?"

"There was a rouge bludger that kept attacking her and it hit her in the arm, breaking it and then she might have hit her head after she fell off her broom catching the snitch…" he told her honestly. He couldn't lie to Madam Pomfrey, it just wasn't possible, she'd weasel the truth out of him eventually. She motioned for him to put her on the bed closest to the wall and sat down in the chair next to her.

"She's just like her father. He broke his leg and bruised his ribs during a match and kept playing until they won. Her godfather wasn't much better. He was a beater and was always getting hurt on the pitch. He broke his wrist and played with the other hand till the game was over. They lost, but only by a small margin. Gryffindor never lost the cup with Potter and Black on their team. Being crazy must run in the family," she explained to the young beater while she mended Harri's arm and gave her a potion that she coughed down.

Her eyes suddenly fluttered open and she looked much more aware of her surroundings. "That should have healed the concussion, but I'm going to need you to stay awake for a few hours, Miss Potter. I think Mr. Weasley could do that, don't you?" Madam Pomfrey told her in a business like tone.

"Thanks for carrying me up here, George," she said once she noticed him sitting next to her.

He smiled and ruffled her hair playfully. "It was no problem. You would have done the same for any of us. I'm just glad that you're feeling better. You were pretty out of it a few minutes ago. Wood would have killed us if you died. He would have had to find another seeker, and none of them would compare to your skills on a broom."

"Too true, Oliver would drown himself if I couldn't play," she said with a smirk.

"On a non-quidditch related note, your hair really sent Lockhart's wand flying. Glad that Fred and I put that stuff in your shampoo now, aren't you!" he exclaimed and she punched him in the arm.

"Shut up, you git," she replied with a laugh. The two of them sat around joking for two or three hours till Madam Pomfrey told them that it was time for George to leave. He gave her a mischievous wink before leaving the room.

"You should get some rest, Miss Potter," the medi-witch ordered as she fed Harri another potion for her head. The young witch dozed off within a few minutes.

Harri was rudely awakened in the middle of the night when something soft and wet was being placed on her head. She nearly screamed when she saw Dobby sitting in the chair next to her, a wet sponge in his hand.

"Dobby, what are you doing here?" she hissed angrily.

"Dobby told Harriet Potter not to return to school, but she didn't listen to Dobby! Since Master Draco is no longer part of the family Dobby doesn't have to listen to him anymore. Dobby decided to take matters into his own hands. Dobby thought that the bludger would bring Harriet Potter home-"

"You sent that bludger after me? I could have been killed!" Harri snarled, nearly putting the house-elf in tears.

"Dobby would never kill Harriet Potter! Dobby remembers how it was when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was at the height of his powers! We house-elves were treated like vermin! Of course, Dobby is still treated like that," he admitted, drying his face on the pillowcase. "But mostly, life has improved for my kind since you triumphed over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Harriet Potter survived, and the Dark Lord's power was broken, and it was a new dawn, and Harriet Potter shone like a beacon of hope for those of us who thought the Dark days would never end. And now, at Hogwarts, terrible things are to happen, are perhaps happening already, and Dobby cannot let Harriet Potter stay here now that history is to repeat itself, now that the Chamber of Secrets is open once more."

"So it wasn't a lie. Dobby, what is the Chamber of Secrets? Do you know what's inside of it?" she asked hopefully.

"Dobby can no say anymore, Harriet Potter," Dobby froze as his ear twitched slightly, he snapped his fingers and with a crack he was gone. He'd disapperated inside of Hogwarts, that's how he had charmed the bludger, house-elves had powerful magic, enough to get past the wards around Hogwarts.

Harri heard footsteps coming and she pretended to be asleep. She opened her eyes a crack to see Dumbledore bringing in what looked like a statue with Professor McGonagall.

"Go get Madam Pomfrey," Dumbledore said after the statue was put on the bed. McGonagall rushed past Harri's bed to get the medi-witch.

"Petrified?" Madam Pomfrey asked horrified. That was when Harri realized that it wasn't a statue on the bed, but a student. She lifted herself up on her bed to see the student. It turned out that it was Colin Creevey.

"We think that he was on his way to visit Miss Potter," McGonagall whispered and Harri nearly groaned. Why couldn't Colin leave her alone? This wouldn't have happened if he did…

"Is that a camera? Do you think he got a picture of his attacker?" Madam Pomfrey asked as they opened the device, except when they opened it, the camera let out a loud hissing noise. The smell of melted plastic wafted through the air from the camera.

"It's melted…what could do this?" McGonagall asked. Dumbledore sighed and rubbed his temples.

"It seems that the Chamber of Secrets has been opened again," Dumbledore said gravely.

"Albus, who could have opened the Chamber?" McGonagall asked sounding tired and stressed.

"The questions is not who, but how," he replied cryptically. Harri gritted her teeth, why does he always give half-truths and riddles. If he just gave straight forward answers then maybe things wouldn't be as dangerous at the school. Speaking of danger, where were the Aurors? Shouldn't they have been notified that students were attacked?

**So, that was the long awaited prank. I hope that you all liked it. The next chapter is going to be the Dueling Club, you have no idea how long I have been waiting for that chapter! I'm glad that people liked my little plotting section in the last chapter. I like Harriet's Marauder side, it shows that she was raised by Sirius. =)**

**And CallMeEm, I hope you liked that I put you in! Umm, what else am I supposed to tell you...oh! Thank you so much for all your reviews! It means a lot to me to see that you're all enjoying what you're reading! If you're not, leave something in the reviews to tell me how I can improve or if you think that I should add something into it...things along those lines.**

**And here is the review goal this week: 340!**

**Voting count:**

**Cedric: 56**

**Viktor: 31**

**Well, Cedric fans, I might be closing the polls early because of the lead you have, but then again, maybe not. If the Viktor fans can close the margin I might change my mind. Then I'll be opening a new poll soon after that.**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hello, everyone! I have really important announcements in the author's note at the bottom, but before you read those, enjoy the chapter! =)**

**Chapter 22**

**The Dueling Club Failure**

By the next morning Harri was feeling much better, besides the slight headache she felt like she could jump buildings in a single bound. Madam Pomfrey didn't share her sentiments and told her to be extra careful, she didn't want to see Harri with another head injury any time soon.

Harri sauntered off to Gryffindor Tower to see if Hermione and the twins were around, she needed to tell someone about Dobby's cryptic warnings and the fact that the poor misguided house-elf nearly killed her with a bludger, but that was beside the point, he thought that he was saving her life by sending her home in pieces.

When she arrived she didn't find any of her friends there, but she did run into Percy Weasley, who was acting as pretentious as ever. She decided that if anyone was keeping track of the twins it would be him. From what the twins had said he didn't want them to ruin his chances of getting Head Boy and Harri thought that was hilarious. If her father, the leader of the Marauders, managed to be Head Boy, Percy would get the badge without a problem. She figured Dumbledore just decides who would be the best couple that year is and puts them together as Head Boy and Girl.

"Have you seen the twins, Percy?" she asked hoping not to talk to him for too long, she found him extremely boring, but fun to rile up.

"I believe they're in the great hall. You really shouldn't spend too much time with them, they're going to be a bad influence on you. I can't believe what they did to Professor Lockhart's hair," he replied, furious with his brothers.

"I think I'll be spending time with them regardless of what you say, but thank for the warning anyway," Harri said with a cheeky grin as she walked away, leaving him fuming. She loved annoying Percy.

She found her friends lingering in the great hall, when they spotted her the twins ran up to her and gave her a hug.

"Hey, guys!" she squeaked from between them. They released her and she dropped to the ground with a light tap. The three of them made their way to the table where Hermione, Draco and Luna were sitting.

"How's your head? George said you pretty out of it yesterday," Draco asked with a smirk. Harri really didn't remember much from yesterday after the fall, all she really remembered was waking up in the hospital wing with her head throbbing and George talking to her.

"It's better, only a dull headache. I need to go up to the hospital wing for one more potion before I go to sleep tonight. Now, there's more pressing news than just my mended head," Harri told the group urgently.

Harri then went on to explain what Dobby had tried to tell to her, but couldn't. Draco frowned. He was obviously bothered by Dobby's form of help. "So, he's decided to take matters into his own hands. My father must have done something to cause The Chamber to open again, I just don't know what. I know he isn't the heir of Slytherin. There haven't been any heirs to Slytherin in ages," Draco said, thinking out loud.

"Harri, do you have any idea on who the heir of Slytherin is? I think it might be Alya, she'd be more than happy to kill muggle-borns," Hermione asked frustrated by the situation, since she could be targeted at any time.

"No, it wouldn't be Alya. She isn't descended from Slytherin either. She would be strutting around the hallways screaming it from the astronomy tower if she was," Draco answered rolling his eyes, picturing Alya doing what he just said. His cousin was such a drama queen.

"Hermione, have you figured out how the snake is traveling through the school?" Harri asked changing the subject from Alya to something much friendlier, a killer snake that Harri figured lost its mind in The Chamber after hundreds of years of being alone.

"No, I haven't figure it out yet, but I think I'm close," she said with a halfhearted smile. She hated not being able to figure things out.

"So, Creevey was attacked?" Fred asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yea, apparently he was going to try and sneak into the hospital wing to see me, but he was attacked. Dumbledore found him on the stairs. This is practically my fault…" Harri answered with her head in her hands. She felt guilty for the whole incident last night even though she was asleep when it happened.

By Monday morning the news of Colin being petrified had become common knowledge. Students were now trading talismans and amulets in the hallways for protection. Harri didn't believe that anything they were going to do would protect them from a basilisk, but she kept that to herself. Ginny seemed terrified and kept waking up screaming in the first year dorms. Harri almost wrote to Mrs. Weasley, but the twins stopped her saying that Ginny had nightmares easily.

Though, the twins tried to cheer her up by jumping out from behind statues or covering themselves in fur. It didn't really work all that well, it scared her more than anything. Harri made them stop by hitting them over their heads with books and shouting, "You two are such prats! Leave your poor sister alone! You're not being funny!"

After that the twins laid off in trying to cheer her up and Harri would comfort Ginny after she had a nightmare.

Harri had tried calling Sirius on the two way mirror, but he wasn't answering. She figured that he was buried in paperwork after stalling to do it while he was cleaning Grimmauld Place, again. So, when McGonagall asked for who was staying over the Christmas holidays none of her friends signed up, since they were going to spend their time at Potter Manor with her.

She found herself pondering how the basilisk was getting around during one of her many boring potions classes. Ever since her hair was dyed red, Snape has been avoiding her like the plague, or staring at her in utter disbelief. It was like he realized that his whole life was a lie, which it might have been, who was Harri to say what he believed. He wasn't even bullying her, which was a welcome change of pace for her, even though she did miss their banter somewhat. So, she just made her potions and then bottled them up. She did her best in everything she did, even when she was making s simple swelling solution.

Snape had come over and nodded in approval at her potion, not saying a word against it…no snide remark...just a nod. Harri was tempted to blow up her potion just to get some normality back into class.

When class ended she couldn't have been happier. Being bored in potions was never a good idea for her. It always got her thinking of pranks she could be doing. Hermione always gave her skeptical looks when Harri started grinning in class, it never boded well for the one on the receiving end.

A week later Harri, Draco and Hermione noticed a small group gathered around the notice board. Harri went over and read the paper that everyone was looking at. She quickly glanced over the paper and made her way back to her friends.

"It seems that the school has started a dueling club, the first meeting is tonight," Harri explained with a shrug.

As they made their way down to dinner they discussed the positives of going to the dueling club meeting. "It sounds like a good idea to go. Dueling skills are needed in the wizarding world," Draco told them thinking farther into the future.

"I wish they taught more muggle things here. You need more than just magic to survive in the real world," Harri said. She liked her muggle classes in primary school. After being in Hogwarts for more than a year she realized that most of the kids don't have a basic grasp of geography or math and had absolutely no clue what they were talking about when it came to science and technology.

"I completely agree with you Harri. The wizarding world has no idea what's going on with technology or the sciences. They're still wearing capes like it's the Middle Ages…" Hermione said with a sigh.

The small group made their way to the dueling club meeting at eight. Harri was hoping that Flitwick was teaching the club since he had been a dueling champion when he was younger, but sadly, Lockhart was instructing them. Harri looked behind Lockhart and saw that Snape was standing there looking extremely murderous.

Lockhart waved an arm for silence and called "Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent! Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions, for full details, see my published works."

Harri gagged at the way he was advertising his books all the time. He really wanted fame and it seemed that he had to sell them himself.

"But don't worry, you'll still have your potions professor when I'm done with him! I heard he was quite the duelist himself!" Lockhart exclaimed and Harri rolled her eyes. Oh course he could duel, anyone in her parents' class knew how to duel, they were actually taught by competent teachers.

Snape gave Lockhart a glare that would kill a normal human being, but Lockhart just kept on explaining things to the group of students. He told them that they would be doing basic dueling spells like disarming.

"Wouldn't it be great if they offed each other?" Harri asked with a wistful smile on her face.

"No, it wouldn't. Then we wouldn't have a competent potions teacher," Draco replied as he watched his godfather give a slight bow as the duel began. Lockhart seemed like all he was trying to do was give a good show, but Severus Snape never gave a show.

"Now, neither of us will be aiming to kill," Lockhart assured.

"I wouldn't bet on that," Draco mumbled with a smirk on his face. He was really hoping that his godfather did something interesting.

The two older wizards swung their arms up and on the count of three Snape cried: "Expelliarmus!" and Lockhart was thrown across the room in a heap of limbs. The Slytherins and anyone who didn't like Lockhart cheered very loudly.

"Do you think he's alright?" Hermione asked worried for her favorite professor.

"Who cares! That was brilliant!" Harri and Draco exclaimed as they watched Lockhart get up shakily with his hair standing on end.

It only took Snape two more murderous glares before Lockhart stopped trying to duel Snape and split the students up to duel each other. "Miss Potter, why don't we see what you can do against Miss Lestrange," Snape said picking out her partner.

"I normally don't condone violence, but if you lose to my cousin, I won't speak to you for a very long time," Draco snarled. Harri ruffled his hair and got into a dueling position.

The two girls barely even bowed, never taking their eyes off each other. Lockhart was giving the count down, but Alya had already started on two. A jet of purple light hit Harri and she felt like she was hit over the head with a saucepan, so much for not getting another head injury.

She gathered herself together and sent a spell right back at her, it was a light yellow in color and stuck Alya's tongue to the roof of her mouth and since second years don't know how to use non-verbal spells, she had lost. Harri decided to hit Alya while she was trying to figure out a way around the curse by casting a bright silver spell that caused Alya to double over in laughter.

Harri watched her opponent with amusement since she couldn't do anything. Snape was watching her, almost egging her on to do something else. Like he was waiting for her to humiliate Alya, just like her dad would have done to him. Harri wasn't going to do anything of the sort of course, and when Snape realized this he stopped the duels.

"Okay, this is quite enough. Finite Incantatem!" he shouted. Alya stopped laughing on the group and, sadly, she could speak again.

"Maybe we should have taught them how to protect themselves. A shield charm maybe…" Lockhart suggested after he got all of the students back on their feet.

Harri snorted. 'Yea, that would have been a grand idea,' she thought to herself, rolling her eyes.

"We'll need some volunteers," Lockhart mumbled looking through the crowd for some victims.

"Potter, Lestrange, get up here and demonstrate!" Snape ordered and Harri sighed, but went up without a fight. Lockhart was going to love this.

When she made it over to Lockhart he attempted to show her how to use a shield charm, but ended up dropping his wand in the process. "It seems my wand is a little excited!"

"Could you show me how to _actually_ use a shield charm, professor?" she asked as she watched Snape giving Alya pointers, obviously trying to give her an edge.

"Scared?" Alya muttered with a grin plastered on her face.

"You wish," Harri replied facing her opponent for the second time that evening.

"Harri, just do exactly what I just did!" he told her and she raised her eyebrow. Did he want her to drop her wand, because that is exactly what he just did. Instead of showing her how to properly defend herself he started the countdown.

"Three — two — one — go!" he shouted.

Alya raised her wand quickly and bellowed, "Serpensortia!"

Harri watched amusedly as a serpent came out of her wand, it was a coral snake, which was rather poisonous.

Snakes were drawn to her and they didn't attack her when they came near her, ever. The snake stared at her with its unblinking eyes and made its way towards her. It curled around her legs, causing everyone in the room to gasp. Harri rolled her eyes, it wasn't squeezing, it was just excited to meet someone who was a Parselmouth.

"Hold still, Potter, let me get rid of it," Snape told her slowly as he glare at his student. Obviously, the snake wasn't his idea.

Harri kept still and calm, she didn't want the snake to get violent thinking that Snape was trying to attack her.

"Allow me!" Lockhart said as he pulled out his wand and spun it in circles. Instead of making the snake disappear he blasted the poor thing off Harri's legs and into the air. He made the snake angry, Harri had been trying to keep it calm too. The coral snake was hissing angrily and was making its way to Justin Finch-Fletchley, it lifted itself up to a striking position. Harri sighed, she was going to need to stop this.

She walked up to the angry serpent and gave it a disappointed look, one a mother would give her child after she'd caught him with one hand in the cookie jar.

She opened her mouth and instead of English coming out, a low hissing was heard, "Enough! He isn't the one that hurt you! Go after the blond ponce in the corner or nothing at all!" she told the snake who slumped down and coiled itself up at her reprimand.

Justin gave her a look of absolute horror and stormed out of the hall. "Snake's taken care of, it won't attack anymore, Professor Snape. You can send it away now," Harri said before jumping off the platform and leaving the room before the questions started. Hermione and Draco were right behind her, Draco looking amused and Hermione looking worried.

"What did you say to it?" Draco asked with a smirk.

"I told him he was misbehaving and he needed to stop… and that if he was going to attack anyone it should have been Lockhart. Justin is safe, I don't care that the whole school is going to think I'm Slytherin's heir…I'm going to bed," she told them. She left them standing alone in the hallway as she made her way to Gryffindor Tower. She really didn't want to talk to anyone.

The next day Harri had calmed down and decided that she needed to talk to Justin and tell him what he said to the snake, except that Herbology was cancelled because of a snow storm, and that was the only time that she could see him.

"Just check the library," Draco told her in the Gryffindor common room that morning, tired of listening to her constant worrying.

Harri decided that what Draco suggested was a good idea and made her way to the library. She passed the transfigurations classroom and saw that McGonagall was yelling at Jason for turning someone, who she bet was Cedric, into a badger.

When she got to the library she saw a group of second year Hufflepuffs talking quietly to each other. Harri decided to eavesdrop in the invisibility section.

"So, I told Justin to hide up in our dormitory. I mean to say, if Potter's marked him down as her next victim, it's best if he keeps a low profile for a while. Of course, Justin's been waiting for something like this to happen ever since he let slip to Potter that he was muggle-born. Justin actually told her he'd been down for Eton. That's not the kind of thing you bandy about with Slytherin's heir on the loose, is it?" said a rather stout boy. Harri's fists clenched. She couldn't believe that they thought she was the heir of Slytherin, why would she attack muggle-born witches and wizards? Her best friend was muggle-born.

"You really think that it's Potter, Ernie?" a small girl with pigtails asked.

"Of course, I'm sure, Hannah. She can talk to snakes. That is the mark of a dark wizard and you know it."

"But she defeated You-Know-Who! She can't be all bad," Hannah said unsure.

"No one knows how she survived. She could have just been an extremely dark wizard in the making and You-Know-Who was trying to take out the competition!" Ernie exclaimed. That was when Harri had heard enough.

"I'm no dark wizard, Ernie. For one, I stopped the snake from attacking Justin. Two, I couldn't have been a dark _witch_ yet, I wasn't even out of diapers. And three, why would I attack muggle-born witches and wizards? My best friend and mother were muggle-born witches and my godfather, Draco and I are all considered blood traitors," she told him coming from behind the invisibility section.

"Well, all I saw you doing was talking to that snake," he snapped not looking at her.

"That's great to know, Ernie. I called the snake off, just in case you were interested, but since you obviously aren't, I'll be leaving," she said storming off, back to Gryffindor Tower.

She walked through a particularly dark corridor on her way back and tripped over something, which was unusual for her, she usually ran into things. She grabbed her wand and said, "Lumos," and was horrified with the sight that greeted her. It was Justin, petrified on the ground. He was wide eyed and his mouth was open in horror. Even stranger was Sir Nicolas, who was petrified as well. It was obvious to Harri that Nearly Headless Nick had looked directly at the basilisk, while Justin saw it through him. A ghost can't die twice and Justin was extremely lucky he didn't make direct eye contact.

That was when Harri did something very out of character, she screamed. Before she knew it she saw Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout coming down the hallway. McGonagall's face was solemn when she saw Harri staring at the two petrified people in front of her.

"Come with me, Potter," she said helping her second year student up off the floor.

"Professor, I didn't do this…" she told her weakly as McGonagall took her down a few corridors till they reached a stone gargoyle.

"Sherbet Lemon," McGonagall said and the stone creature sprung to life and a spiral staircase appeared from behind it. Harri knew where she was being taken, she being taken to see Dumbledore.

**Alright, well I might not be able to give you a chapter this Friday. Usually, I have the chapter already written by the time I'm posting this, but I've been having some health related problems (migraines) this week and might not have the chapter done. I'm really sorry and I know some of you are going to be mad since I did promise to give you a chapter every Friday, but I can barely look at my computer screen, nevertheless type. I do have half the chapter done, but I don't know if I can finish in between headaches. I'm so sorry and I hope you can all forgive me! **

**So, on a happier note, thank you all so much for reviewing on the last chapter! You guys really made it far with the review goal! You're all awesome for taking time out of day to write something. =)**

**There were a few questions in the last chapter:**

**1. To ILoveGeorgeEads: If Cedric wins, he will not be killed in the 4th book. I already have a plan to keep him alive.**

**2. To Hela: Sirius isn't going to die, unless he angers me. Just kidding! If I killed him, I would probably cry my eyes out. =P I already know who I'm killing off, you'll just have to wait and see what happens.**

**3. To Death's Inevitable Kiss: This isn't the last you're seeing of Snape treating Harriet differently. I have a big plans for the summer before fifth year and half of sixth year. (Which if you guess what I'm doing for her sixth year you're a genius and possibly a mind reader because I'm going completely off cannon! I'm excited for it! I've been planning it since I started book two...I have no idea where the inspiration struck me, but what happens is all George's fault.)**

**Voting:**

**Cedric: 62**

**Viktor: 37 (Good job in bringing some votes back!)**

**I'm going to keep this going a little bit longer since there isn't a thirty vote lead, if there is, I'm finishing the voting. Um, I have the book three voting planned out already. =)**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter**


	23. Chapter 23

**Hi! I managed to write this in between migraines. Anyway, this chapter is a shorter one. Christmas during Harry's second year was filled with the polyjuice potion, which didn't happen. So, without further adieu, enjoy the chapter.**

**Chapter 23**

**Phoenix Feathers and Manor Estates**

McGonagall brought her into Dumbledore's office and left her there to wait for the headmaster. If Harri weren't so worried about being expelled she might have taken some time to pay more attention to Dumbledore's office.

It was a large circular room, full of funny noises. There were a number of curious silver instruments that stood on spindle-legged tables, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke. The walls were covered by the portraits of past headmasters, all slumbering in their frames. In the far corner of the room sat the Sorting Hat.

Harri wandered around the room, not really focusing on anything, until she spotted a phoenix that looked close to a burning day. The poor animal resembled a half-plucked turkey. The phoenix's eyes were dull and tired.

"Don't worry, all the pain will be gone soon and you'll be reborn from your ashes before you know it," she assured the suffering animal in front of her.

As soon as the words left her mouth the bird ignited. It resembled a fire ball more than a bird. Harri jumped back worried that she might catch fire as well. The fire completely consumed the phoenix and soon there was nothing but a pile of ashes on the floor.

Harri heard the door open behind her and then she saw Dumbledore walk in. He looked somber, she figured that it was because of the most recent attack. Harri hoped that the headmaster would tell her what was going on in the school or maybe call the Aurors…they were rather helpful when it came to solving mysteries and stopping killings.

"Sir, your bird just ignited," she informed the older man, completely forgetting why she was brought here in the first place.

"About time, too," Dumbledore said. "He's been looking dreadful for days."

Suddenly, a small peeping noise could be heard from the ground. Harri looked down and saw that the phoenix was a little wrinkled baby bird, sitting on the floor. The second year Gryffindor scooped him up off the floor and put him on the Headmaster's desk.

"There you go," she told the baby bird, who was peeping happily on the desk, exploring its new surroundings.

"It's a shame that you had to see Fawkes on a burning day. He is usually quite handsome with lovely red and gold plumage." Dumbledore said to her as he pet the little phoenix chick on the head. Moving to his chair, he motioned for Harri to take the seat on the other side. "Now, Harriet take a seat, we need to talk."

Harri sighed, she had completely forgotten why she was brought here. Maybe if Fawkes did something else that was cute Dumbledore would get distracted, but alas, the chick had fallen asleep on the desk.

"Professor, I didn't do it! I think the universe has something against me! I was just coming from the library when I found Justin on the floor! I'm not the heir of Slytherin, no matter what the rumors going around say!" Harri nearly shouted.

"I know you didn't do it, my dear girl, so calm down," Dumbledore replied with a smile.

"Then why do you want to talk to me if you know I didn't do anything wrong?" Harri asked with a raised eyebrow. He had something up his sleeve and she didn't like it.

"I just want to know if there is anything that you wish to tell me, anything at all?" he questioned, his eyes twinkling. All of the sudden it felt like something was trying to get into her head, so she looked away from the elderly headmaster and the feeling went away. Was he trying to read her mind?

"No, nothing at all," she answered hastily as she got up and left his office, giving Fawkes one last pat on the head.

The news of Nearly Headless Nick and Justin being petrified reached the students within hours of the attack. The fact that a ghost was affected by the monster was what scared people the most. If a ghost wasn't safe, who was?

What annoyed Harri the most was that everyone was avoiding her, as if she was going to morph into a basilisk right in the hallway…well, everyone avoided her except her friends. The twins made an active effort to try and cheer her up. Instead of shying away from her in the hallway, they would walk arm and arm with her and tell loud and obnoxious jokes to make her smile, "Make way for the Heiress of Slytherin, seriously evil witch coming through!"

Percy didn't find this funny in the least. He continuously tried to get them to stop, but that only seemed to encourage the twins more.

"This isn't a laughing matter!" Percy shouted to them in the halls one rather chilly afternoon.

"Oh, get out of the way Percy," Fred told him, shoving his older brother out of their pathway.

"Yea, Harri is off to have tea in The Chamber of Secrets with her fanged servant, you don't want to mess with her," George continued with a grin. Harri was trying not to laugh at their antics, but was failing miserably. For the first time in days she was laughing like the school wasn't in danger.

At last the term ended and Harri and her friends were on their way to platform 9¾, where Sirius was going to be waiting for them.

"I'm so glad that I'm going to be away from all the craziness at Hogwarts for a while. I was getting tired of people running in fear from me," Harri said as they exited the train.

"And here I thought you were enjoying the fear you instilled onto the students of Hogwarts. You could have fooled me," Draco said cheekily. Luna and Hermione rolled their eyes at Harri's and Draco's bickering, they acted so much like siblings it was ridiculous.

The twins were helping Harri and Hermione drag their things off the train, while Draco was pulling his things behind him. Luna on the other hand was trailing behind the group of older students, much to her dismay. She didn't want to come off as a burden, so she didn't ask for help.

Since the twins were the tallest in the group, they went looking for Sirius in the crowd, leaving the younger kids to deal with their stuff. When Harri heard a shout and laughter, she figured that the twins found Sirius. She led her friends over to where the twins were and found Sirius standing still while both twins hugging him. It seemed that they had tried to tackle Sirius over, but it didn't really work. Remus was standing behind his friend with a very amused grin adorning his face. He had obviously heard the twins coming and stepped out of the way.

"Hello, Remus. Sirius, I see the twins found you," Harri greeted with a rather large smile.

"Hi, Bambi, I see you-" he started to say, but stopped when he saw her hair. He lost his concentration for a moment and fell backwards with the twins on top of him. Remus just looked surprised by her hair, but he didn't fall over.

"What happened to your hair, Bambi?" Remus asked with a raised eyebrow. Harri pointed to the twins who were still hugging Sirius.

"They slipped a potion into my shampoo without me knowing about it. It turned my hair red and it also attacks on command," Harri replied as her braided hair stood up by itself, looking like it was ready to strike.

"That's some interesting magic, what did you two put into that potion?" Remus questioned the twins who mumbled something about Draco.

The blonde in question perked up at the mention of his potion, "I made the potion. I'll show you the list of ingredients when we get to the manor," Draco replied as he helped Luna with her trunk, despite her protests.

"Alright, boys, get off Sirius. It's time for us all to leave. We've spent all week decorating the house for you guys," Remus told the twins who looked rather put out that they had to get off their role model, but at the same time they were excited to see Potter Manor again.

The twins got up without much of a fight and Sirius got up and engulfed Harri and Draco in a hug. He missed both of them, even though Draco never wrote to him, but he figured Harri writes for both of them.

"You look just like your mother. I swear you trying to give me grey hairs showing up looking like this," Sirius told his goddaughter good naturedly. He looked around and noticed that there was a new face among Harri's friends. He figured that this must be Luna Lovegood.

The grouped arrived at Potter Manor without an incident. Hermione and Luna were surprised by the size of Harri's family home, but didn't say anything. When they opened the door Harri went into the large house first, followed closely by the twins and Draco. Hermione and Luna trailed behind, taking in the beauty of the manor.

The entrance was filled with holly and tinsel. A tree could be seen peeking out from the sitting room. There were toy soldiers that were charmed to walk along the marble entranceway in a circular pattern. Everywhere they looked there was some sort of decoration, but it never seemed tacky, it fit with the large house, giving it a very homey feel.

The two Marauders watched Hermione and Luna with knowing smiles. That was the same look they had the first time they visited Potter Manor with James, who, like his daughter, just walked in like he owned the place and showed them around like this was normal living.

"Hermione, Luna, hurry up! I'm going to show you two to your rooms! I don't want you getting lost!" Harri shouted from the top of the stairs. Hermione and Luna ran after Harri, excited to see their rooms.

"There are four floors to the manor. The first floor has the kitchen, three different sitting rooms, a dining room, and a ballroom. The second floor has the library, a few more sitting rooms, and the family studies. The third floor has guest rooms. The fourth floor is where the master bedroom and their heirs' rooms are, that is where we'll be staying. I don't like being up there alone. There are six rooms, one for the twins, one for Draco, one for Moony and Padfoot, one for Hermione and Luna, and one for me. The master bedroom is going to stay empty," Harri informed them as she pointed out their rooms, which were all across from each other.

"Wait, you said there's a library on the second floor? You have a library?" Hermione asked, jumping up and down in excitement. She couldn't believe that her friend had a library.

"I'll show it to you tomorrow after breakfast," Harri promised her best friend.

Christmas came quickly for the group of friends, of course there was a prank war going on at the same time. It was Fred and George against Sirius and Remus. The Marauders were winning hands down. The twins were smart, but Moony and Padfoot had experience. Hermione, Luna and Draco were frequently caught in the middle of a prank, while Harri avoided them, having years of practice. There was a rather nasty prank including cat fur, a toaster, two bendy straws and steak sauce, but Harri didn't want to think about it.

The exchange of gifts was when the winners were announced. Harri, Luna, Draco and Hermione had been the judges, even though they didn't know till after the war started. The Marauders won, much to the disappointment of the twins, but they took the loss with stride and they all opened gifts happily.

During the holiday break Harri spent a good amount of time in the library with Hermione. Harri was reading about basilisks and their weaknesses, while Hermione was reading about anything she could find, the danger in the school completely forgotten.

"Harri, did you know that some families have enchanted engagement rings and the ring finds the perfect match for them? I feel bad for the person on the receiving end, they have no idea what they're getting into and they don't have a choice about the engagement!"

"Yes, Hermione, I know about it. There are all sorts of marriage laws in the magical world. There are laws for veelas, there are laws for purebloods, and laws for crazy engagement rings. The magical world is strange. I prefer to do things the muggle way and fall in love on my own. Sirius says that he and my dad swore that I was only allowed to marry someone that they saw fit. I feel really bad for the boy who I bring home," Harri replied as she closed yet another book on giant snakes. She had yet to find anything substantial.

"Harri, go outside with your friends! You're going to grow old in that library!" Harri heard Sirius shout from downstairs.

Harri got up to go and motioned for Hermione to follow, but the studious witch shook her head and Harri left her to her own devices.

As soon as Harri stepped outside she was bombarded with snowballs. "This is what you get for studying, traitor!" The twins exclaimed as they tackled her to the ground.

Draco and Luna watched amused and the two Ravenclaws picked up their snowballs and chucked them at the twins and Harri, much to the Gryffindors' surprise. And so, the great snowball fight began, it was brains verses pranksters and it ended up a tie, with both parties freezing and tired by the end of it.

The rest of the holidays ended much too soon for everyone's liking, but before they knew it they were on their way back to Hogwarts.

**Hi! So, I did manage to get a chapter out after all! I also have chapter 24 halfway finished! I taken migraine medicine and then write when they're gone. =) Anyway, I know that this chapter was short, but I hope it was still up to par with the usual chapters I post!**

**So, for the voting...I think I'm closing the Viktor and Cedric poll.**

**The winner, with a twenty five point lead (65 to 40), is Cedric! (cue the streamers and confetti)**

**I have other plans for Viktor anyway. =)**

**Now, I have a new thing for you all to vote for. Some people have been asking if Sirius will have a love interest. I know what her name's going to be, but I can't decide if she is going to be Muggle-born or a witch. So, vote for Muggle-born or witch in the reviews! **

**Speaking of reviews there were a few reviews I'd like to address from the last chapter's reviews:**

** Shadeslayer Fowl: Remus will still be a teacher in year three. And boy, is Sirius going to have fun the summer before. He's going to love messing with Professor Moony.**

**2. GinnyWeasley5: Feel better soon! Being sick is absolutely no fun!**

**On a less news worthy note, I've been playing through Final Fantasy 13. I can't wait for the next two games to come out! Lightning Returns and Fifteen both look so good! =D (Yep, I'm a writer and a bit of a gamer on the side ;)**

**THE REVIEW GOAL IS GOING TO BE 365! (GOOD LUCK!)**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter!**


	24. Chapter 24

**I have some pretty big announcements at the bottom, but before you see those, please, enjoy the chapter! =)**

**Chapter 24**

**The Very Secret Diary**

Coming back from break with her hair back to its original color made everyone, who was part of the staff and knew Lily Evans, sigh with relief. Although, Harri could now turn her hair red whenever she pleased and it still attacked on command, much to the amusement of all her friends.

Snape's vindictive attitude was back and as stronger than ever, making Harri internally smile. She didn't like him staring at her like she was the ghost of her mother, though her grades were much higher because of it. Harri and Snape were back to bantering during class again and all was right with the world, or it was to Harri anyway. Though, Harri could do without all the homework her potions professor gave, but beggars can't be choosers.

Harri figured that Monday's just weren't her day. At the current moment, she and the twins were being chased by Filch around the castle. He was blaming them for flooding the first floor bathroom. Harri and the twins managed duck into the bathroom they were accused of flooding and waited for Filch to pass. When he didn't come in and give them detention they relaxed.

For once the twins hadn't flooded the bathroom. It seemed to be Myrtle's own doing, since she was wailing at the top of her lungs.

"Myrtle, what's wrong?" Harri shouted over the ghosts moaning. The girl in question floated over to her and her friends to give them her answer.

"Someone threw something at me," she answered with a sniffle.

"Why would someone throw something at you?" Harri questioned in reply. She figured that it was rude to throw something at someone whether they were living or dead.

"Don't ask me," she wailed, as more water poured out from the toilets behind her. "Here I am, minding my own business, and someone thinks it's funny to throw a book at me…"

"But it can't hurt you," Fred reasoned. "I mean, it'd just go right through you."

Harri smacked the back of his head for that comment. How could he be so insensitive? It was obvious that Myrtle was very upset.

Myrtle puffed herself up and shrieked, "Let's all throw books at Myrtle, because she can't feel it! Ten points if you can get it through her stomach!" she said putting her arm through Fred's stomach making him shudder from direct contact with the ghost. "Fifty points if it goes through her head!" she punched through Fred's head.

"Well, ha, ha, ha! What a lovely game! Don't you think?" Myrtle screeched angrily.

"Who threw the book at you anyway? That way you can work out your revenge on them and not on poor insensitive Fred," Harri reasoned.

"I don't know…I was just sitting in the U-bend, thinking about death, and it fell right through the top of my head," Myrtle said, glaring at them. "It's over there, it got washed out…"

Harri and the twins walked over to the dropped book. Fred picked the sopping wet book up and leafed through the pages, much to Harri's horror. She smacked the thing out of his hands.

"Do you know how bloody dangerous that was? That book could have been cursed or something! Why would you do that? Your brother is a curse breaker, he should have warned out about picking up strange books!" Harri scolded.

"Where's life without a little adventure?" Fred asked playfully as he picked up the book again. "It's a diary that belonged to Tom Riddle about fifty years ago. Tom Riddle, why does that name sound so familiar? Right, he has a special medal for school service in the trophy room. I think he was head boy too. I polished the trophies enough times remember some of the names."

"What kind of bloke owns a diary anyway?" George asked with a snort and a raised eyebrow.

"Don't know, but it doesn't look like he wrote in it. I bet a friend gave it to him and he tossed it," Fred replied flipping the book over.

"What if it's in invisible ink or something? Hermione and I found a few spells in the Potter library that reveals hidden messages," Harri said as she took the book and tapped it with her wand._ "Aparecium!"_

Sadly, nothing happened and the twins shrugged it off as just a lame diary, but the name bothered Harri. She felt as if she should know this person, or that she had already met him somewhere. She pocketed the diary anyway, she was going to look at it more in the library later.

For Harri, looking at the book in the library later, didn't come till sometime during the following week. She had been bogged down with homework and classwork. The mandrakes were now reaching their teenage years. They were covered in pimples, moody and were keeping secrets, which made them even more of a pain to work with.

Harri heard Professor Sprout telling Filch that pretty soon the mandrakes would be ready for repotting soon and then after that they were ready for stewing.

The second year Gryffindor sighed with relief, although the heir of Slytherin seemed to be slacking. There hadn't been an attack since Justin. Harri feebly hoped that the basilisk had gone back into hibernation. Ernie Macmillan of Hufflepuff was convinced that Harri was the heir of Slytherin and pointed it out whenever he got the chance, which was just making her angry.

To make matters worse, Lockhart thought that he had singlehandedly scared the monster away. He was constantly bragging to teachers about how it heard of his reputation and ran away. Harri doubted that the basilisk cared.

Harri overheard him talking to Professor McGonagall while the Gryffindors were lining up for Transfiguration, "I don't think there'll be any more trouble, Minerva," he said, tapping his nose knowingly and winking. "I think the Chamber has been locked for good this time. The culprit must have known it was only a matter of time before I caught him. Rather sensible to stop now, before I came down hard on him. You know, what the school needs now is a morale-booster. Wash away the memories of last term! I won't say any more just now, but I think I know just the thing…"

Harri dreaded what he was going to do to the school to boost morale. She feared that he would slip love potions into peoples' drinks that he had made himself and poison half the population of Hogwarts.

On February fourteenth she found out what he meant. She was running late due to morning quidditch practice. She walked into the great hall, only to find that it was covered in pink flowers and had heart shaped confetti falling from the ceiling and into the food below. Draco and Luna were sitting with the Gryffindors with scowls on their faces. Hermione and a few of the girls were giggling with joy at the display. Harri looked over to the staff table and noticed that McGonagall's eyelids were twitching and Snape looked murderous.

That was when she realized that Lockhart was wearing robes in a disgusting shade of pink. He clapped his hands a few times for silence. "Happy Valentine's Day!" Lockhart shouted. "And may I thank the forty-six people who have so far sent me cards! Yes, I have taken the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you all, and it doesn't end here!"

He clapped again and dwarves dressed as cupids came matching in, each looking just as unhappy as the next.

"They will be moving around the school today delivering your valentines! And the fun doesn't stop here! I'm sure my colleagues will want to enter into the spirit of the occasion! Why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a Love Potion! And while you're at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I've ever met, the sly old dog!"

"Love potions? He's suggesting people use love potions?" Luna snarled. Both Draco and Harri looked at her in surprise. She usually didn't get angry, but it seemed that Lockhart pushed her over the edge.

"Don't worry, Luna. I doubt that Professor Snape would help anyone make a love potion anyway," Harri soothed her young blonde friend.

For the rest of the day Harri was avoiding the singing dwarves and when Valentine's Day was nearing its close, the young Gryffindor found herself sitting isolated in the back of the library. She was staring at Riddle's diary still puzzled with it. Harri sighed and pulled out her Transfigurations homework and got to work. She was briefly interrupted when she spilt her ink bottle all over the table, getting the staining substance on her books, including the diary.

Harri picked the bottle up and inspected the damage, her text books would just need a quick cleaning charm, but when she looked at Riddle's diary there was nothing on it. Harri saw the ink spill on it, maybe the book absorbed it?

Harri figured that she'd test the theory. She opened the diary to the first page and wrote something simple down.

_My name is Harriet Potter._

Her name was immediately absorbed by the page and she tilted her head to the side, curious about what was going to happen.

Oozing back out of the page, in her very own ink, came words Harri had never written.

_**"Hello, Harriet Potter. My name is Tom Riddle. How did you come by my diary?"**_ Harri frowned, she didn't like that the book had written back, but figured that she should play along.

_"Someone threw it in the girl's bathroom. It was waterlogged when I came across it"._ Harri wrote back timidly, hoping that Tom would write back something a little more substantial and he didn't disappoint.

_** "Lucky that I recorded my memories in some more lasting way than ink. But I always knew that there would be those who would not want this diary read."**_

Harri didn't quite understand how he recorded his memories, but she felt that it was dark magic, but she continued writing anyway.

_"What do you mean?"_

_**"I mean that this diary holds memories of terrible things. Things that were covered up. Things that happened at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."**_

Harri raised an eyebrow. It sounded like Tom had lived through the same kind of event that she was going through at the moment.

_"Terrible things are happening here too. Do you know anything about the Chamber of Secrets?"_ Harri scribbled and waited for his reply. Maybe he knew who opened it the first time.

_**"Of course I know about the Chamber of Secrets. In my day, they told us it was a legend, that it did not exist. But this was a lie. In my fifth year, the Chamber was opened and the monster attacked several students, finally killing one. I caught the person who'd opened the Chamber and he was expelled. But the Headmaster, Professor Dippet, ashamed that such a thing had happened at Hogwarts, forbade me to tell the truth. A story was given out that the girl had died in a freak accident. They gave me a nice, shiny, engraved trophy for my trouble and warned me to keep my mouth shut. But I knew it could happen again. The monster lived on, and the one who had the power to release it was not imprisoned."**_

That really confused Harri. It was obvious to her that Tom knew something and wasn't telling her.

_"Do you know who opened the Chamber last time?"_ she wrote quickly, her heart was hammering in her chest.

_**"As a matter of fact, I do, Ms. Harriet Potter. Let me show you,"**_ He replied back, confusing Harri. How was he going to show her?

_"What do you mean by show me?"_ she asked the diary, but there was no response. Instead the diary pages flipped frantically, like they had been hit with a strong gust of wind. It stopped when it reached the middle of June. An image appeared. Harri gasped, these were memories. That's what he meant by recording things in a more lasting way than ink.

Suddenly the image expanded and sucked Harri in. She felt as if she blacked out and when she came to she realized that she was in the headmaster's office about fifty years ago. She noticed that a frail elderly man was seated at the headmaster's desk, appearing extremely stressed.

The elderly man walked around his office in a pacing manor, until there was a knock at his door. "Come in," he called tiredly.

That was when a young wizard around the age of sixteen walked in. He had a prefect's badge on his chest. He was tall, had jet back hair like her and was rather handsome.

"Ah, Riddle," the Headmaster said.

"You wanted to see me, Professor Dippet?" Tom asked. He looked nervous.

"Sit down," Dippet ordered. "I've just been reading the letter you sent me."

"Oh," Tom said. He sat down, gripping his hands together very tightly.

"My dear boy," Dipper said kindly, "I cannot possibly let you stay at school over the summer. Surely you want to go home for the holidays?"

Harri figured that Tom had to have bad living conditions if he didn't want to leave Hogwarts during the summer holidays

"No," Tom mumbled. "I'd much rather stay at Hogwarts than go back to that… to that —"

"You live in a Muggle orphanage during the holidays, I believe?" Dippet asked curiously.

"Yes, sir," he replied reddening slightly at the mention of his 'home'. Harri's heart went out to him. He was an orphan like she was. She figured that if Sirius didn't take her in there would have been a good chance that she would have been put into an orphanage as well.

"Are you a muggle-born?"

"Half-blood, sir," Tom replied. "Muggle father, witch mother."

"And are both your parents —?"

"My mother died just after I was born, sir. They told me at the orphanage she lived just long enough to name me. Tom after my father, Marvolo after my grandfather."

Harri thought that she recognized the name Marvolo…she'd have to ask Sirius about it later, it sounded like a name she had come across when she was researching family histories.

Dippet clucked his tongue sympathetically.

"The thing is, Tom," he sighed, "Special arrangements might have been made for you, but in the current circumstances…"

"You mean all these attacks, sir?" Tom asked, and Harri's heart leapt, and she moved closer, scared of missing anything.

"Precisely," the headmaster replied. "My dear boy, you must see how foolish it would be of me to allow you to remain at the castle when term ends. Particularly in light of the recent tragedy…the death of that poor little girl…You will be safer by far at your orphanage. As a matter of fact, the Ministry of Magic is even now talking about closing the school. We are no nearer locating the…er…source of all this unpleasantness."

Tom's eyes had widened.

"Sir, if the person was caught…if it all stopped…"

Harri's eyes narrowed. He knows more than he's letting on. She didn't trust him as far as she could throw him. Tom was a cunning boy.

"What do you mean?" Dippet questioned with a squeak in his voice, sitting up in his chair. "Riddle, do you mean you know something about these attacks?"

"No, sir," said Tom quickly, too quickly.

Harri snorted, knowing that she couldn't be heard. That was the same way she had spoken to Dumbledore a few nights ago when he asked her if she wanted to tell him anything.

Dippet sank back, looking faintly disappointed.

"You may go, Tom…"

Tom slid off his chair and slouched out of the room. Harri followed him.

Down the moving spiral staircase they went, emerging next to the gargoyle in the darkening corridor. Tom stopped, and so did Harri, watching him. Harri could tell that Tom was doing some serious thinking. He was biting his lip, his forehead furrowed. She almost thought that he looked guilty about something as he walked along deep in thought.

Then, as though he had suddenly reached a decision, he hurried off, Harri walking noiselessly behind him. They didn't see another person until they reached the entrance hall, when a tall wizard with long, sweeping auburn hair and a beard called to Tom from the marble staircase.

Harri's mouth hung open, it was Dumbledore, fifty years younger. She didn't know that he was a red head!

"What are you doing roaming the halls so late at night, Tom?" Dumbledore asked the young man in front of him.

"I had to see the headmaster, sir," Tom answered.

"Well, hurry off to bed," Dumbledore said, giving Tom exactly the kind of penetrating stare Harri knew so well. She figured that he was trying to read his mind.

"Best not to roam the corridors these days. Not since that poor girl met an unfortunate end in the bathroom…"

Harri was hoping for more than that, she wanted to know who was killed! She groaned as Tom decided to run along like the future headmaster told him to.

For perhaps five minutes she followed him, until Tom stopped suddenly, his head inclined in the direction of new noises. Harri heard a door creak open, and then someone speaking in a hoarse whisper.

"C'mon… gotta get yeh outta here… C'mon now… in the box…"

There was something familiar about that voice. It sounded like Hagrid. Tom was about to open the door when she felt something shake her shoulders and pull her out of the memory.

When she opened her eyes George's concerned face came into view. "Harri, are you alright? I found you passed out on the desk. Did the diary do something to you? You look dreadful," he told her, sitting her up slowly. As her eyes came into focus she realized that she had a pain splitting headache right where her scar was.

"Have you ever heard of the name Marvolo?" she asked wearily, suddenly very tired.

"No, now we're putting the diary at the bottom of your trunk and you're never going near it again, got it? It looks like it drained the life out of you," he said helping her out of the chair, nearly carrying her out of the library.

Part way though their walk to the common room Harri nearly collapsed and George scooped her up in his arms. He thought that she was out cold until she spoke, "I think I know why Hagrid was expelled, but it doesn't make any sense, unless he was framed."

"Harri, I'm going to make Hermione take you straight to bed. We'll talk more in the morning, yea?" George replied, his usually mirthful blue eyes looked worried.

"No, if I wake her up again, she'll hex me into next week. Just leave me on one of the couches by the fire," she said weakly.

The red head rolled his eyes at his friend's dramatic attitude. She seemed to be regaining the color in her face, much to George's relief.

When they reached the common room Harri was fast asleep in George's arms and didn't seem like she was going to be getting up anytime soon. So, he gently sat on one of the couches by the fire, placed the diary on the table next to them, summoned a blanket and dozed off with the small raven haired girl in his arms. The following morning Fred nearly laughed himself silly when he saw his brother snuggling with Harri on the couch.

"If you say anything to her, I'll tell which one of us Angelina made her speak in rhymes for three days straight," George hissed as Harri stirred in his arms.

"Why didn't you just leave her here by herself," his brother asked quietly.

"She wouldn't let go of me, she still hasn't," George answered showing that Harri's hands were still clutching his shirt.

The twins chuckled at Harri's childlike behavior and tried to wake her up before anyone saw them. Of course, Harri woke up and apologized at least a hundred times to George for falling asleep on him. He laughed it off and told her, "It's fine. That's what I'm here for!"

"Hey, George, where did you put the diary? I need to burn that thing, it's dangerous," she asked him looking around the common room for it, but it was nowhere in sight.

"I put it on the table next to the couch," he replied, until he looked at the table he placed the diary on and found the little black book gone. "I put it there last night! Maybe someone nicked it?"

"That diary was full of dark magic…I guess I can't do anything about it now," Harri said while biting her lip deep in thought. "Hey, how about you two help me with some research and I'll give you some prank ideas."

After the afternoon classes had ended Harri and the twins had piles of ancestry books open in the library. Hermione, Draco and Luna decided that school work was more important than looking up ancestry. She was going to find out who Marvolo was.

**So, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. There will only be two or three more for the second book! The third book is going to be like three or four overview chapters. I mean, without a Prisoner of Azkaban there really isn't a plot, there is going to be Hogsmeade weekends, first dates, Professor Moony and Dementors (Yea, I'm still putting them in and you'll find out why later!;) **

**Oh, and next week I will be going away on vacation for a week. I do plan on writing while I'm away, so don't fret, my lovely readers! Anyway, I wanted to address a mistake I made in my authors last Friday. See, I meant to say for Sirius potential love interest to be either a muggle or a witch. Sorry about that...I told you I had been having migraines and the medicine makes it very hard to concentrate. As of right now the voting stands at:**

**Muggle: 1**

**Witch-**

**Pureblood: 1**

**Half-blood: 1**

**Muggle-born: 6**

**Chapter 25 has been finished and I'm going to be editing it tomorrow and it should be up on Friday. I will be posting another chapter next week. I'll be home for one night and if I'm feeling up to it, I'll post a quick chapter before I leave again. I really want to finish the first three books before the summer ends. I want to get to the exciting books! **

**Okay, there were some question from the last chapter!**

**1. Hela: You're not bothering me with questions! I am more than happy to answer them! a) What did the twins do to Charlie in chapter 2? That is a good question. I believe that they may have pushed him into supply closet with a pink haired Auror in training... b) Bellatrix is married to Rodolphus Lestrange. c) Why does Snape hate Lockhart? Why indeed ;) If it doesn't get answered in the last few chapters I'll put it in the author's note at the end of the second book. d)Engagement rings might come in. I'm still thinking about it. e) Well, I think that this chapter answered that question for you!**

** 2. NihilityChild: I will try to put pranks in, but they're hard to think of...=) Remember, Harriet likes mischief, but isn't a fan of getting in trouble.**

** 3. Outofthisworldgal: Cedric will not be dying in the 4th book.**

**Oh, and would you guys like a small playlist that I listen to when I'm writing this? Or songs that I listen to and think they describe the future books I'm going to write? Leave that in your review as well!**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
Still don't own Harry Potter...**


	25. Chapter 25

**I'm spoiling you with these long chapters...=) Enjoy! I'll see you all at the bottom! Oh, but read the chapter title, it took forever to come up with!**

**Chapter 25**

**The Riddle Behind Marvolo**

Harri hadn't found anything substantial about Marvolo and it was already March. The Easter Holidays were approaching and the second years were given something to think about, they had to pick their classes for their third year. She had the option to take Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures, Muggle Studies or Divination.

Harri decided that she would take Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures the following year, mostly because it sounded like a challenging schedule with one easy class mixed in. Draco decided to take Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and Muggle Studies. Hermione on the other hand decided to take every class, much to the horror of everyone around her.

"Hermione, you're one mad witch," Cedric told her when he heard them talking about schedules.

Besides picking classes Harri also had quidditch practice every night after dinner. She barely had time to finish her homework, but at least she coming back from practice dry and not covered in mud. She was in much higher spirits when she came back from the pitch the day before the match against Hufflepuff. She figured that Gryffindor was going to win hands down and the twins mentioned that to Cedric whenever they got the chance.

The only real problem she was having was trying to figure out who Marvolo was. He was related to Tom Riddle, but it was his grandfather on his mother's side, so the last name Riddle wouldn't be in the books since it was his muggle father's last name.

Currently, Harri had her head face down on her bed in frustration. "Harri, smothering yourself isn't going to help you figure out who Marvolo is. Why don't you just ask Sirius?" Hermione asked her friend, watching in amusement as Harri dove towards her trunk and pulled out the mirror.

Within seconds Sirius' face appeared on the glass. "Hey, Bambi, is something wrong? Remus is due back any minute from his date with Dora and I want to hose them down before they start snogging each other goodbye again."

Harri had decided to not tell Sirius about the basilisk running around the school, she figured that he'd panic a little bit. Dumbledore obviously didn't want the public to know about the attacks just like the headmaster from fifty years ago.

"Do you recognize the name Marvolo? I know I've heard the name somewhere before," she replied and Sirius nodded his head.

"Yes, he was on the crazy side of the wizarding world. There was too much inbreeding. His full name was Marvolo Gaunt. He should be in the ancestry book you took to school. The doorknob is turning! I'll be right back!" Sirius said as he disappeared from view and a few seconds later screaming could be heard.

"Sirius, you bloody prat!" could be heard right before a loud yelp and a thump. It seems that Remus got him. Harri rolled her eyes and turned off the mirror. She'd let Sirius call her back after Remus was done with him.

Sadly, Sirius didn't call her back that night. She went to sleep only to wake up due to nerves early that morning. When she looked outside she saw that the sun was shining and it was breezy. It was perfect quidditch conditions.

Harri, Hermione, Draco and Luna were all sitting together in the great hall before the match talking about Gaunt and who he could possibly be, until she heard the basilisk again. Her head shot up towards the ceiling, listening for the voice.

_"Kill this time…let me rip…tear…"_

"The basilisk is on the move again," Harri said worried. That was when Draco and Hermione shared a look and both of them shot up out of their seats.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Draco asked and Hermione nodded.

"We're going to the library. We'll be back on time for your match!" Hermione shouted as Draco dragged her out of the room.

"Did you catch any of that, Luna?" Harri asked with an amused smile. Luna gave her a dreamy stare, but shook her head.

A few moments later Katie Bell came running into the great hall. She took one look at Harri and marched over to her. "Harri, get ready for the match! Wood is going to kill you if you're late!"

The second year shot up out of her seat, bid Luna goodbye, and ran to the Gryffindor dorms and got ready for the match. She barely had enough time to change, but made it to the locker room with a few minutes to spare.

Oliver gave his traditional speech, the teams did their warm up laps around the pitch and right when the two groups were about to mount their brooms McGonagall ran onto the pitch with a megaphone in her hand.

"The game has been cancelled!" she shouted. There was a lot of booing from the stands and Oliver looked devastated.

"All students are to make their way back to their respective common rooms, where your Heads of Houses will give you further information. As quickly as you can, please!"

Harri's blood ran cold, it sounded like there was another attack. She looked around the crowd for Hermione and Draco, but couldn't find them anywhere. Now she was really worried. Professor McGonagall beckoned Harri over.

"Potter, come with me."

Harri nodded and followed without question, knowing that something bad had happened. McGonagall led her to the infirmary, but before they walked in her head of house gave her a sad look.

"This is going to come as quite a shock to you, Miss Potter. There was a double attack." She told her student with a gentle voice as she pushed open the doors. Madam Pomfrey was tending to a girl with curly brown hair when she entered. Harri's gaze shifted to the bed next to nurse.

The sight that greeted Harri wasn't one she'd ever want to relive. Her best friend was lying petrified on one of the beds. One hand was cupped in the air, frozen stiff. Eyes glassy and lips slightly parted in shock. Hermione was sitting in the chair next to the bed sobbing next to Draco's petrified form.

Harri ran over to the bed and hugged Hermione tightly, not believing the sight before her. "We found all three of them near the library. Mr. Black had his hand covering Ms. Granger's eyes, so she didn't see anything. I'm not sure how she avoided the attack, but she is lucky to be alive," McGonagall told Harri who nodded numbly, knowing that Draco saved Hermione from petrification when he covered her eyes.

The two second year girls were led back to their common room where they sat in silence. The twins tried cheering them up, but Hermione kept bursting into tears and Harri was consoling her quietly. Harri gave the twins a halfhearted glare before returning her attention to her distressed roommate.

Their head of house was telling the students that if someone didn't come forward and admit that they were causing the attacks the school was most likely going to close.

After McGonagall left the room, everyone started talking. "Whoever it was attacked a pureblood! I thought Slytherin loved purebloods!" Seamus exclaimed and that was when the whole room erupted into a panic. Harri didn't listen to the rest of the conversation.

It wasn't until the two went up to their dorms and Hermione started to cry again, that Harri finally snapped. "Hermione, stop crying! Don't let Draco's sacrifice be in vain. Now, tell me what happened!" Harri shouted, she was done sitting around waiting for the next attack. It was obvious that Hermione knew something.

"Draco and I were heading to the library. I was holding a mirror up in case the basilisk was around. I warned the other girl that was petrified about the snake as well, so she was also holding a mirror. We had finally figured out how the basilisk was getting around. It's through the pipes…and Draco thought that he heard something. He grabbed me with one hand and covered my eyes with his other one. I felt him stiffen up, it was like he turned to stone. It was horrible Harri! How are we supposed to beat something we can't look at?" Hermione explained.

"We can talk to Hagrid. He was expelled for opening it the first time. Maybe he'll know something," Harri suggested and Hermione nodded mutely.

"But, how are we going to get there without being seen?"

"Well, I'm not the daughter of Marauder for nothing. It's time that we used the invisibility cloak and the map," Harri replied pulling out the objects in question and held up the map. "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."

Using the map made it much easier for them to escape the castle, walk to Hagrid's hut without being detected and knocked, hoping he would answer. When the door opened they were greeted with a crossbow.

Harri pulled the cloak off her and Hermione's head and Hagrid lowered his weapon.

"What are you two doing here?" He asked with obvious relief showing in his features. That was when Harri realized that Hagrid was probably waiting for the ministry to come in and blame him for the whole mess.

"We need to know what creature you had been raising fifty years ago that got you expelled. We know it wasn't the one that was actually causing the petrification and killing that girl, but-" Harri began to say, but Hagrid pulled them into the hut and sat them down.

"I know that yer trying ter help, but no matter what I say it isn't going to mean a thing. It isn't going to change things either…" he replied. Harri was about to interject when there was a loud knock on the door. Harri grabbed Hermione and pulled to into the corner, wrapping the invisibility cloak around them right as the door opened.

Dumbledore walked in with a grim expression on his face. He was followed by a man that Harri knew well. She couldn't stand him, he was always trying to take her away from Sirius.

He had rumpled grey hair and an anxious expression, and was wearing a strange mixture of clothes: a pinstriped suit, a scarlet tie, a long black cloak, and pointed purple boots. Under his arm he carried a lime-green bowler.

Hermione gave Harri a confused look, obviously she didn't know who the man in front of them was. "That's Fudge, the Minister of Magic," Harri hissed quietly.

"Good evening, Hagrid," Dumbledore greeted with false sincerity.

"Bad business, Hagrid," said Fudge in rather clipped tones. "Very bad business. Had to come. Three attacks on Muggle-borns and one Pureblood. Things've gone far enough. Ministry's got to act." The Minister said in a clipped tone. Harri's blood was boiling. He was going to take Hagrid away with no proof!

"I never," said Hagrid, looking imploringly at Dumbledore. "You know I never, Professor Dumbledore, sir —"

Dumbledore cut him off, "I want it understood, Cornelius, that Hagrid has my full confidence."

"Look, Albus," said Fudge, uncomfortably. "Hagrid's record's against him. Ministry's got to do something — the school governors have been in touch —"

Harri gripped her wand tightly. The board of governors were nothing more than pureblooded idiots that wanted nothing more than to line their pockets. If they caught the perpetrator behind the petrifications then they would get good publicity.

"Yet again, Cornelius, I tell you that taking Hagrid away will not help in the slightest," Dumbledore reasoned.

"Look at it from my point of view," said Fudge, fidgeting with his bowler. "I'm under a lot of pressure. Got to be seen to be doing something. If it turns out it wasn't Hagrid, he'll be back and no more said. But I've got to take him. Got to. Wouldn't be doing my duty —"

"Take me?" asked Hagrid, who was trembling. "Take me where?"

Harri's blood ran cold. She had a good idea where he was going to be taking the friendly giant.

"For a short stretch only," said Fudge, not meeting Hagrid's eyes. "Not a punishment, Hagrid, more a precaution. If someone else is caught, you'll be let out with a full apology —" Fudge started, making it sound like a detention, but everyone in the room knew better than to believe what the minister said.

"Not Azkaban?" croaked Hagrid.

Before anyone's suspicions were confirmed there was another knock on the door. Dumbledore went to get it, but before he even touched the handle the door swung open and Lucius Malfoy stepped in. Both girls gasped, wondering why he was here.

"What are you doing her, Lucius?" Dumbledore asked with a raised eyebrow, "Have you come to visit your son? He was the most recent student attacked after all."

"He could have been killed for all I care, he is no longer considered my son." There were collective gasps from his statement and Hermione had to hold onto Harri, who was trying to rush out from under the invisibility cloak to attack him. "I'm simply here to tell the headmaster that twelve governors have signed a petition for your suspension."

"Oh, now, see here, Lucius," Fudge said, looking alarmed, "Dumbledore suspended no, no last thing we want just now."

"The appointment, or suspension, of the headmaster is a matter for the governors, Fudge," Lucius Malfoy said smoothly. "And as Dumbledore has failed to stop these attacks —"

"See here, Malfoy, if Dumbledore can't stop them," Fudge interjected. His upper lip was sweating now, "I mean to say, who can?"

"That remains to be seen," he replied with a nasty smile. "But as all twelve of us have voted —"

Hagrid leapt to his feet, his shaggy black head grazing the ceiling. "'An' how many did yeh have ter threaten an' blackmail before they agreed, Malfoy, eh?" he roared outraged.

"Dear, dear, you know, that temper of yours will lead you into trouble one of these days, Hagrid," Malfoy advised. "I would advise you not to shout at the Azkaban guards like that. They won't like it at all."

"If the governors want my removal, Lucius, I shall of course step aside —" Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes as he looked directly at Harri and Hermione. "You will find that I will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me… Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it."

Harri gritted her teeth, another cryptic message. She was going to need to figure things out fast.

Of course nothing really surfaced, Harri was still looking for the Gaunt family records to no avail and despite knowing how the basilisk was getting around Harri couldn't figure out where it was coming out from. Before Harri and Hermione knew it summer was creeping over the grounds and time was running out.

One morning while she, Hermione and the twins were reading over some more ancestry books. The twins were putting in some small talk as they read. George had confiscated Ron's wand that morning since it kept causing things to catch on fire and still kept trying to use spells with it.

Part way through a rather long story about how their brother nearly burned the common room down, Harri's head shot up. "Bloody hell! Why didn't I think of this sooner?" she nearly screamed.

"What are you talking about?" Fred asked.

"I know who died fifty years ago and where the entrance to the Chamber is!" She said bouncing up and down in her seat with excitement. "The bathroom Myrtle died in! She was the girl that was killed and since it travels though the pipes it must have come out through there! I have to tell McGonagall. We might just stop these attacks!"

The group sat there grinning at each other at Harri's revelation, until an announcement was made. "All students are to return to their House dormitories at once. All teachers return to the staff room. Immediately, please."

Harri looked at her friends in front of her and sighed. "I'm going to grab my cloak and talk to McGonagall. You guys go back to the common room," she told them with a weak smile, but George insisted that he should go with her.

"Harri…I found Gaunt," Hermione gasped. "His family was the last direct decedent of Slytherin."

Harri's eyes narrowed. Tom Riddle opened the Chamber the first time and framed Hagrid!

"George, you're coming to talk to McGonagall with me. She has to know about this. Fred, keep Hermione safe," she ordered grabbing her cloak, she wrapped it around her and her red headed friend, and escaped the library.

They ran into the staff room before the teachers got there and jumped into a wardrobe, they were going to find out who was attacked. They hid inside it listening to the rumbling of hundreds of people moving overhead, and the staff room door banging open. From between the musty folds of the cloaks, they watched the teachers filtering into the room. Some of them were looking puzzled, others downright scared. Then Professor McGonagall arrived.

"It has happened," she told the silent staff room. "A student has been taken by the monster. Right into the Chamber itself."

Professor Flitwick let out a squeal. Professor Sprout clapped her hands over her mouth. Snape gripped the back of a chair very hard and said, "How can you be sure?"

"The Heir of Slytherin," Professor McGonagall said, who was very white, "left another message. Right underneath the first one. 'Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever.'"

Professor Flitwick burst into tears.

"Who is it?" Madam Hooch asked, who had sunk, weak-kneed, into a chair. "Which student?"

"Ginny Weasley," McGonagall replied. George slid down the back of the wardrobe. He looked like he was ready to breakdown into tears. Harri wrapped her arms around his shoulders and waited for the staff to continue, but the door burst open and Lockhart walked in.

Harri smirked, this was going to an interesting conversation with the moron. Harri just wished the Draco was here to see their idiot professor squirm.

"Sorry, I dozed off. What did I miss?" he asked with a bright smile on his face. Harri wanted to beat her head against the wardrobe because of his stupidity.

Snape's lips curled into a sinister smile, "Well, just the man for the job. You see, a girl has been taken into the chamber. You did say that you knew where it was."

Harri could literally see the color drain for Lockhart's face when he realized what Snape had told him.

"I — I really never…you may have misunderstood —"

"We'll leave it to you, then, Gilderoy," said Professor McGonagall. "Tonight will be an excellent time to do it. We'll make sure everyone's out of your way. You'll be able to tackle the monster all by yourself, a free rein at last."

"V-very well," he said. "I'll — I'll be in my office, getting — getting ready," the fraud stuttered before he ran from the room.

All the teachers talked for a few moments before walking out of the room, leaving George and Harri in the wardrobe. George hadn't moved since he heard that his sister had been taken.

"Harri, do you think that she's…" George started to say, but couldn't finish the sentence. Harri slid down the wall of the wardrobe and sat next to her distressed friend.

"Of course not! She's alive. Let's go and talk to Lockhart. He's supposed to be going into the chamber. The least we can do is tell him how to get there. Maybe the Slytherin beast will eat him while he's down there and leave Ginny alone," Harri replied as she jumped out of the wardrobe and motioned for George to do the same.

Her red headed friend followed her silently and they made their way to the defense room, only to find it stripped bare. Lockhart was closing his trunk and turned around surprised when he heard George clear his throat and Harri snapped.

"You foul git, you fraud! You're running away! There is a girl dying in the Chamber of Secrets and you have the nerve to run away!"

"It's an unfortunate thing that the girl is going to die…" he began, but George silenced him by punching him square in the jaw. Knocking the man to the floor, he scrambled up quickly.

"How dare you! You're our defense against the dark arts professor! Don't talk about my sister as if she's dead! What about all the things that did in those blasted books you made us buy?" he snarled. Harri had to hold him back from hurting their professor further.

"Books can be misleading," Lockhart said delicately.

"Draco and I knew it! You are a fraud! You've been taking credit for what other people have done!" Harri growled.

"It's not nearly as simple as that. There was work involved. I had to track these people down. Ask them exactly how they managed to do what they did. Then I had to put a Memory Charm on them so they wouldn't remember doing it. It's not all book signings and publicity photos, you know. If you want fame, you have to be prepared for a long hard slog."

George and Harri were staring at him with their mouths wide open in shock. They couldn't believe that he had been preforming memory charms on people and claimed to do them himself.

"Let's see," he said. "I think that's everything. Yes. Only one thing left."

He pulled out his wand and turned to them, but Harri was faster. She pulled her wand out just as fast.

_"Expelliarmus!"_ she shouted and Lockhart's wand flew into her hand. She then threw it out the window.

Lockhart looked at her like he'd seen her for the first time. He didn't see an attention seeking girl, but a powerful young witch in the making, "What are you going to do? I don't actually know where the chamber is…"

"Well, you're in luck. We know where it is and are headed that way now," George said pointing his wand at Lockhart's back and leading him to Myrtle's bathroom.

When they got to the bathroom they spotted Myrtle sitting near an open stall. Her eyes narrowed when she saw Lockhart, but didn't say anything.

"Is there something you need, Harri?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We would like to know how you died," Harri stated and Myrtle looked at her like she had never been asked a more flattering question.

"Oh, it was dreadful," she said with relish. "It happened right in here. I died in this very stall. I remember it so well. I had hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. The door was locked, and I was crying, and then I heard somebody come in. They said something funny. A different language, I think…it must have been. Anyway, what really got me was that it was a boy speaking. So I unlocked the door, to tell him to go and use his own toilet, and then," Myrtle swelled importantly, her face shining. "I died."

"Did you see anything weird?" Harri questioned urgently as she ran towards the sink where Myrtle had been looking when she mentioned the boy.

"I saw big yellow eyes and then I died," Myrtle answered dreamily.

Harri looked the sink over and saw a small snake scratched on the side of one of the taps. "George, I found the entrance!"

"That's great, but how are you going to open it?" he asked, his wand still pointed at the defense teacher.

"Give me one second," she replied as she cleared her mind so she could speak in Slytherin's favored tongue. "_Open_."

At once the tap glowed with a brilliant white light and began to spin. Within seconds, the sink began to move. The sink, in fact, sank, right out of sight, leaving a large pipe exposed, a pipe wide enough for a man to slide into. Harri figured that it was a long fall down.

"Well, George, it seems we're going to need someone to go in before us to make sure that the fall is survivable," Harri said and Lockhart paled. George grinned and shoved the professor down the hole, forcefully.

When they heard a thud and groan they knew that he survived the fall. George tucked his wand into his robes and jumped through the hole. Harri followed quickly behind him.

Harri was sliding through the pipe with alarming speed. She figured that she must be traveling miles underground the school. She saw the pipe level out and open she braced herself for the fall, but it never came. It seemed that George had caught her before she hit them ground. "Good catch," she said with a grateful smile. She glared at Lockhart before pulling out her wand and going forward.

They didn't stop until they reached a giant unmoving form. Harri walked up to it and realized that it was shed skin and gasped. The beast must be at least twenty feet long. Lockhart fell to his knees in fear and Harri rolled her eyes.

"Plenty of courage, that one," George said pointing to their teacher, but that was when he attacked them. He tackled the fourth year Gryffindor to the ground and grabbed a wand from his robes, the wand was nearly bent in half, it wasn't George's wand, it was Ron's!

"The adventure ends here!" he said. "I shall take a bit of this skin back up to the school, tell them I was too late to save the girl, and that you two tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body! Say goodbye to your memories!"

Harri was too late to do anything. By the time he turned around he had already shouted the spell. _"Obliviate!"_

The wand exploded with the force of a small bomb. Harri flung her arms over her head and ran, slipping over the coils of snake skin, out of the way of great chunks of tunnel ceiling that was thundering to the floor. Before she realized what had happened, she was standing alone, gazing at a solid wall of broken rock.

"George, are you alright?" she shouted, hoping that her friend was okay.

"Yea, but Lockhart isn't. The gits spell backfired. I'll try and move some rocks out of the way, but it'll take ages!" he yelled back.

"Okay, well, I'll go on by myself. If I'm not back in an hour…tell the professors where the bodies are," Harri replied as she began walking away.

"Harri, you will be coming back alive or I'll bring you back to life and kill you again!" George threatened.

She walked for nearly fifteen minutes, finding nothing but pipes and sewer grates, and then, at last, as she crept around yet another bend, she saw a solid wall ahead, on which two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds.

Harri approached the structure, her throat very dry. The carvings almost looked alive... She could guess what she had to do. She cleared her throat, and the emerald eyes seemed to flicker.

_"Open,"_ Harri said, in a low, faint hiss.

The serpents parted as the wall cracked open, the halves slid smoothly out of sight, and Harri, moving some hair from her face, shaking from head to foot walked inside.

**I liked this chapter...it had a lot of good moments and a few surprises I doubt many of you saw coming last chapter. Anyways, I'm going to be going away next week. So, I don't know what day I'm going to be posting, it could be Saturday or it could be Sunday or Friday I guess. Depends on internet connection. I know I'll have internet Tuesday so here is the review goal!**

**396 (if you get to 400 I'll be even happier =)**

**Thank you to all my lovely reviewers! I love reading the reviews! =) I guess that's why I spoil you so much, you love to review. Speaking of reviews, I've decided that Sirius' love interest will be a witch, but you guys get to decide what kind and you won't know when I'm going to bring her in, so the voting could go on for a while. **

**Here's the voting!**

**Pureblood: 3**

**Half-Blood: 3**

**Muggle-Born: 11**

**There were a few questions from the last chapter!**

**Hela: a) I might be adding Charlie in later. I know Bill will come in and I think I know how, but we won't really see him till the seventh book. b) I already have pairings for Fred and Luna so there won't be a poll for either of them! If you have anymore questions don't be afraid to ask!**

**Now, I also promised you a playlist...I've been hunting through what I listen to and have found fifteen (actually sixty-one, but I'm giving you fifteen) songs! You may or may not notice that many are from the same band or artist. A lot of people probably haven't heard of these bands, give them a try! I promise they're really good!**

**1. Not Gonna Die- Skillet (4th and 5th)**

**2. Battle Cry- Skillet (4th and 5th)**

**3. The Grey- Icon for Hire (5th and 6th)**

**4. Only a Memory- Icon for Hire (this song is like the entire 6th book summed up. If you can guess why you can read my mind, so leave a guess, even if they're wrong they're worth hearing!)**

**5. Fight- Icon for Hire (5th book)**

**6. Can't Live Without You- Fit for Rivals (4th-7th)**

**7. Every Breath- Boyce Avenue (5th-7th)**

**8. When the Lights Die- Boyce Avenue (4th-7th)**

**9. Song of the Caged Bird- Lindsey Stirling (5th)**

**10. Electric Daisy- Lindsey Stirling (1st-3nd)**

**11. Spontaneous Me- Lindsey Stirling (1st-3rd)**

**12. Moonlight- The Piano Guys (Yule Ball)**

**13. Carol of the Bells (for 12 cellos)- The Piano Guys (all Christmas scenes)**

**14. Lead the Fight On- He is We (5th)**

**15. Face Up- Lights (5th)**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter or the songs listed...I didn't use the content in those songs at all. I do not own it!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Important announcements at the bottom, but before that, enjoy the chapter! =)**

**Chapter 26**

**The Reward of the Wounded**

Harri slowly walked into the chamber with her wand out and at the ready. The chamber was littered with snake pillars that gave her the creeps. She shuddered as a cold breeze hit her. When she reached the end of the pillars she saw a giant statue of a man, who looked monkeyish with a long, thin beard that fell almost to the bottom of the wizard's sweeping stone robes, where two enormous gray feet stood on the smooth Chamber floor. And between the feet, face down, lay a small, black-robed figure with flaming-red hair.

Harri knew who that was right away, it was Ginny. She sprinted over to the fallen girl quickly and turned her over, praying that she was still alive. Her face was the color of marble and she was ice cold to the touch. Harri reached for her arm and checked her pulse. It was there, but very faint.

"Ginny, wake up!" Harri whispered shaking the younger girl's shoulders. Ginny's head just lolled to the side, giving no response.

"She won't wake," a familiar voice said from behind Harri. The second year Gryffindor turned around to see Tom Riddle, though he was blurred around the edges, she could still tell it was him.

"Tom, aren't you a little old to look sixteen?" Harri said unsure, but he nodded. He still looked sixteen even though he should be well into his sixties by now.

"I'm only a memory…preserved by that diary." He replied to her unspoken question. That's when she spotted the diary next to Ginny's unmoving body. Harri's eyes narrowed dangerously and her mind was working on overdrive. After she had written in that book she collapsed…had Ginny been writing in it for a long time? Was that why she was dying on the ground? That still didn't explain how Tom was standing before her.

"What have you done to Ginny?" Harri growled and Tom gave a humorless laugh. He looked at her with an unspoken emotion written on his face.

"You truly are a brilliant witch, Harriet. You figure things out quickly…I've been waiting for a very long time to speak with you," he told her as he came closer the two girls.

"You waited fifty years to talk to me? My parents weren't even born yet. What are you playing at, Tom?" she asked him, as she reached for her wand.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, I'm connected to Ms. Weasley now. If you were to hurt me…you might just kill the poor thing," he threatened and Harri put her hand down, away from her wand.

"How did Ginny get like this, Tom?" she snapped. She was done playing games. She had a good idea on how Ginny came to be like this, but she wanted to know for sure.

"Well, she poured her heart and soul into my diary. She would write for hours on end. I would reply, being sympathetic and understanding."

"What do you mean she poured her soul into your diary?" Harri questioned numbly.

"Where to begin…about my diary," Tom began, making sure Harri was listening closely and when he realized that she was he continued. "Well, little Ginny's been writing in it for months and months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes — how her brothers tease her, how she had to come to school with secondhand robes and books, how —" Riddle's eyes glinted. "She told me all about you. The girl who destroyed the greatest dark lord the wizarding world had ever seen and how you would never be her friend. Pathetic."

Tom's eyes never left Harri's face, as if he was waiting for a reaction. His eyes turned steely when she didn't respond at all. Instead he continued to bait her.

"It's very boring, having to listen to the silly little troubles of an eleven-year-old girl," he went on. "But I was patient. I wrote back. I was sympathetic, I was kind. Ginny simply loved me. No one's ever understood me like you, Tom… I'm so glad I've got this diary to confide in… It's like having a friend I can carry around in my pocket…" Tom said with a high cruel laugh that Harri recognized from her nightmares from the time she was a child.

"What has writing in your diary done to her?" Harri asked as she watched him closely.

"So Ginny poured out her soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted…I grew stronger and stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful, far more powerful than little Miss Weasley. Powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley a few of my secrets, to start pouring a little of my soul back into her…" he explained. Harri gasped at the dark magic that he used on an eleven year old girl. She only knew one person sick enough to do that to a kid, but he wasn't sixteen, but she wouldn't be surprised if he somehow planned this.

"What do you mean you poured your soul into her?" Harri hissed. She wouldn't have been surprised if it came out as Parselmouth.

"Ginny Weasley opened the Chamber of Secrets. She strangled the school roosters and daubed threatening messages on the walls. She set the Serpent of Slytherin on three Mudbloods, a blood traitor and the Squib's cat."

"She only did that with your influence!" Harri shouted at the smirking young wizard in front of her.

"Yes," said Riddle, calmly. "Of course, she didn't know what she was doing at first. It was very amusing. I wish you could have seen her new diary entries… far more interesting, they became… Dear Tom," he recited, watching Harri's horrified face, "'I think I'm losing my memory. There are rooster feathers all over my robes and I don't know how they got there. Dear Tom, I can't remember what I did on the night of Halloween, but a cat was attacked and I've got paint all down my front. Dear Tom, Percy keeps telling me I'm pale and I'm not myself. I think he suspects me… There was another attack today and I don't know where I was. Tom, what am I going to do? I think I'm going mad… I think I'm the one attacking everyone, Tom!'"

Harri's fists clenched at her sides and Tom saw that he was getting her angry. So, he continued.

"It took a very long time for stupid little Ginny to stop trusting her diary," Tom told her with a sinister smile. "But she finally became suspicious and tried to dispose of it. And that's where you came in, Harriet. You found it, and I couldn't have been more delighted. Of all the people who could have picked it up, it was you, the very person I was most anxious to meet…"

"Why would meeting me be of any importance to you? Wait, no one died this time. Was all this just a plan to bait me down here?" Harri asked in absolute horror. How was she always falling for these kinds of tricks?

"Ah, there's that intelligence again. Ginny always spoke so highly of the girl-who-lived…" he said mockingly.

"Who the bloody hell are you? I know that you were the heir of Slytherin back in your school days, not Hagrid. What I don't get is that you're a half-blood. Why would you kill muggle-borns? Why would you support pureblood supremacy. It doesn't make any sense! Your father was a muggle!" Harri shouted. She wanted to know why he was such a hypocrite.

"I have always been able to charm people when it has suited my needs, Harriet. And yet, I can't seem to charm you, so I'll answer your questions. Yes, my father was a muggle. It's a pity that my mother fell in love with someone beneath her status and time. He left her while she was pregnant with me and then she died, leaving me to be raised in a muggle orphanage where I was constantly picked on by the other muggle children. So, Harriet, tell me, why shouldn't I treat muggles the way I do?" he replied with a twisted grin.

"The great Voldemort has daddy issues? That's the whole reason for hating muggles and muggle-borns. That's just sad…" Harri said in a mocking tone and Tom's eyes flashed with anger.

This time he came up to her and stayed within arms-reach, "It seems that you figured out who I was. What gave me away?" he asked. "I'll know if you're lying."

"Your laugh. It's very memorable," she answered with a glare. She didn't like people reading her mind.

"Well, Harriet, I think your time has come. I'm done playing with you. It's a pity you could have been so much more if you weren't sided with Dumbledore…Prepare to die," he told her and then he opened his mouth again, but something interrupted him. It was a musical voice of a phoenix! It seemed that Fawkes had found her…how he knew where the chamber was confused her, but she wasn't going to think about that while Tom was in front of her.

Fawkes flew over to Harri and landed on her shoulder, he then dropped something at her feet, it was the sorting hat! She picked it up quickly, not wanting to leave it on the ground.

"Pitiful, Dumbledore sends you a bird and hat to defend the school…" he laughed and the opened his mouth to speak again, but this time it wasn't in English. _"Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four."_

Harri watched in horror as a pipe opened up wide. She quickly backed up against a wall and closed her eyes. She felt Fawkes fly off. What chance did a phoenix have against a basilisk?

There was a loud thud as the snake hit the floor of the chamber and she could sense if coming closer to her.

_"Kill her,"_ Tom hissed.

She ran blindly, along the walls of the chamber before she tripped and fell. She felt the vibrations of the chamber as the snake approached. She has never been more afraid of a serpent before. Suddenly, she was smacked hard across the chest, sending her flying into a nearby wall. She then did something very stupid, she opened her eyes to see what was going on.

That was when she saw Fawkes dive down and peck the eyes out of the basilisk. Harri sighed in slight relief. The phoenix had taken away the instant death factor.

Tom was screaming from the other side of the chamber in agitation. _"LEAVE THE BIRD! LEAVE THE BIRD! THE GIRL IS BEHIND YOU. YOU CAN STILL SMELL HER. KILL HER!"_

Harri knew that she needed to think fast. All she had in her hand was the sorting hat…then she remembered what Dumbledore had said right before he left Hagrid's hut. So, she clutched the sorting hat tightly and said, "I need help, Hogwarts!"

Suddenly, she felt something fall out of the hat. It crashed on the ground loudly, it was a sword! She picked it up right as the snake began to charge at her. She held the sword with both hands and right as the beasts mouth opened she lunged and plunged the sword straight up the basilisk's mouth, killing it instantly. Blood oozed from its mouth and Harri felt something sharp pierce her arm right above her elbow. It was one of the basilisk's fangs. The fang splintered as the beast fell sideways. Harri pulled it out of her arm, even though she knew it was useless, the poison was already inside her.

"I bloody hate Mondays," she said as she fell to the ground, the poison already killing her. She crawled over to Ginny and the diary. She figured she'd have about another minute or two before she died, she might as well curse her worst day of the week before she died. Her vision started to swim and she slumped farther on the floor.

"You have little more than a minute to live," Tom sneered. "I'm going to sit here and watch you die, Harriet Potter."

She had failed, Ginny was going to die, she would never see Draco wake up, Hermione would have lost her best friend, Sirius and Remus would have to live without her and George was going to have to learn Necromancy.

That was when an idea hit her. Nothing was more deadly than basilisk venom, so, she acted on instinct and grabbed the diary and plunged the fang right into the book. Tom gave an unearthly screech and slowly fizzled away. The color returned to Ginny's face immediately and she woke up. The young girl looked around a few moments before her eyes landed on Harri, who was covered in blood and as pale as the marble she was surrounded by.

"Harri? Are you okay?" she asked crawling over to her hero. Harri weakly nodded, trying not to move.

"Yea, I'll be right behind you. George is waiting for you down that pipe. We've all been very worried about you," she replied, trying to worry the poor girl any more than she already was.

Harri took a deep breath and closed her eyes, she figured if this was dying it wasn't so bad. It was just as quick and easy as falling asleep. She felt something land her arm, she realized that it was Fawkes.

"You did great, I'm glad I got to see you all grown up," she told him with a weak smile. That was when she felt something wet touch her arm, then her vision began to clear. She blinked a few times in confusion, until she saw pearly white tears on her arm. Phoenix tears had healing powers! She had completely forgotten about that! She smiled that the brave bird in front of her and kissed his head.

"You're such a good boy," she cooed and the phoenix looked away bashfully. She noticed that Ginny was staring at her strangely and Harri straightened herself up.

"I wasn't going to leave without you…" Ginny said with a slight blush on her cheeks.

Harri sighed and then looked at the basilisk fang. She grabbed her wand from inside her robes and shrunk it down to a reasonable size, and transfigured a rock into small jar with a lid and dropped the fang inside. She then pocketed the little trinket in her robes. Harri figured she might need a basilisk fang a one point, might as well keep that one that nearly killed her.

"Sure, come on," Harri told her as they made their way back to the entrance. It seemed that George had made an opening for them. When they reached the point where the entrance pipe was she saw McGonagall, Sirius, Remus, Hermione, Fred, George and Lockhart, who was tied up and gagged, all waiting there. They were talking intently with each other.

"Are you guys waiting for someone?" Harri asked just loud enough for everyone to hear. Sirius' head shot up first and she could literally see the relief flood through him.

"Harriet Jane Potter, you are in so much trouble!" Sirius shouted as he ran over to her and engulfed her in a tight hug. McGonagall was clutching her heart as she looked at Harri who was covered in blood and holding the sword of Gryffindor in one hand and a battered diary in the other. She also sighed in relief when she saw Ginny Weasley alive and well. There wasn't a scratch on the younger girl, which made McGonagall wonder how Harri got covered in blood.

"Ms. Potter, why don't we take you to the hospital wing, while Ms. Weasley goes to see her parents back in Dumbledore's office. The victims of the attacks will be waking up soon as well," McGonagall said with a gentle smile. It took a while for everyone to get back up, seeing as how the pipe sloped downwards. It wasn't until Harri said _'stairs' _ is Parselmouth did they all manage to get up without a problem.

After an hour and a half or potions, spells and explanations later, Harri was finally left alone with Sirius and Remus to talk as she sat still in a hospital bed.

"Okay, I wanted to show you two this," Harri said as she pulled out the diary. "It had a piece of Voldemort's soul in it. Do you know what it is?"

From the horrified look on Sirius' face he knew exactly what it was. "Bambi, that diary was a horcrux. Voldemort split his soul in two to make this piece of dark magic. Barely anything can destroy them. You were lucky that you had a basilisk fang on hand, otherwise, I don't want to think about what would have happened to you."

"Do you think he made anymore?" Remus asked with a questioning gaze. Sirius sighed and nodded his head. He wasn't happy admitting it, but he knew that Voldemort had contingencies, so he would definitely have more of them lying around.

"He most likely does, we're going to have to find all of them if we ever want to get rid of him, but we'll talk about this later. Draco is going to be waking up soon, why don't we wait for him," Sirius suggested and Harri shot out of the bed and ran to the curtained off side of the room where all the attacked students were being kept.

When they got to Draco's bed, he wasn't the only one there. There was a tall, regal looking woman with long blonde hair and grey eyes sitting in the chair next to his bed along with Dobby the house elf.

"Cissy, what are you doing here?" Sirius asked with a raised eyebrow, wand raised and ready to attack.

"I came to see my son. Lucius just told me about the attack. Draco could have died…just between us, Lucius planted the diary in Ginny's caldron back in Diagon Alley. He'd been boasting about at home and it made me sick, knowing that he was going to kill a little girl. I know you can't press charges, because it can't be proven, but I thought you should know. I don't know how to repay you for stopping this mess," she replied as Draco's petrified hand dropped to the mattress for the first time in weeks. Harri looked next to Mrs. Malfoy and saw Dobby sitting there miserably.

"Could you let Dobby go? He's really abused at your home…" she suggested and Narcissa nodded. She had a debt to pay to the surviving Potter. Before Narcissa could pull anything off her, Harri handed her a grimy sock.

"Tell your husband that I tricked you into giving Dobby the clothes. There's less of a chance of you getting hurt that way," Harri told her. Narcissa tossed the sock to Dobby, who caught it eagerly. The house elf bowed to Harri before apperating away from the castle.

Narcissa turned her attention back to her son and kissed him lightly on the forehead. "Be well, my little Dragon," she said to him with a watery smile before walking out of the room. Harri wasn't sure why she didn't just stay till he woke up, but figured that she was going to go to her husband, who was no doubt sulking at his failed attempt at closing the school.

"Ugh, I feel like I was hit by the Hogwarts Express…" a voice groaned from the bed next to her. His blonde hair completely disheveled, grey eyes misty from sleep and voice gravely from lack of use. Harri launched herself onto the bed and hugged her best friend and brother in all but blood tightly.

"You noble prat! Don't you ever scare us like that again! Next time there's a killer snake that can petrify or kill people with a glance you close your eyes when you hear it!" Harri scolded through tears of joy.

"Okay, I promise I won't…can you let go?" Draco asked with a tired grin on his face. Harri nodded and backed off as he sat up slowly. "So, is anyone going to tell me what happened?"

After many long winded explanations, Draco finally knew why Harri looked like she had nearly been killed, because she had, again.

When they got down to the Great Hall the next day Harri had found out that she and George had received four hundred points for Gryffindor and won the house cup for the second year in a row. Harri noticed Dumbledore sitting at the staff table with eyes twinkling with mirth in her general direction. She rolled her eyes, she realized that he had set her up to fight the basilisk, who she named Philip. He knew what was going on and who was behind it, and yet he let a twelve year old solve his problems. He was testing her and she didn't like it one little bit.

"I can't wait to see what kind of defense teacher we're going to have next year…" Draco said as they watched Hogwarts disappear into the distance as they rode the train home.

"We're probably going to have another unqualified and deranged professor next year. I might as well just have Remus teach me all the third year DADA spells, he's rather good at defense…" Harri replied thinking of nothing, but going home and enjoying the summer with her makeshift family.

**I hope that there weren't too many grammar mistakes, but I didn't have much time to edit it and sadly, I won't be posting this Friday. I won't have internet. =( But I will post when I get back which is either Saturday or Sunday. It's probably going to be Sunday when I update and then there will be another review goal Sunday for Tuesday. =) Sorry for the inconvenience, but you're still getting a chapter later this week. I should have just skipped it...It's a lot of work for me...**

**Voting:**

**Pureblood: 5**

**Half-Blood: 3**

**Muggle-born: 16**

**And now, questions! **

**Hela: Ron's wand was broken in Lockhart's first defense class. A pixie snapped it. =) I'm glad that you enjoyed the playlist.**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter.**


	27. Chapter 27

**Hello! I told you I'd give you a chapter today! I got back yesterday evening and I was really tired! I edited this a little bit and then crashed. Sorry about the delay! Enjoy the chapter, there will be notices at the bottom of the page!**

**Chapter 27**

**Professor Mooney**

The summer before Harri's third year was noisy, to say the least. The twins came over a few times in the beginning of the summer. The boys enjoyed looking at her glass encased basilisk fang necklace, which unlike popular belief, was a real shrunken basilisk fang. Sadly, her time with the twins was cut shot, but it was for a good reason. Their family won a quite a few galleons in a contest and the entire Weasley family, minus Charlie who was in Romania, took a trip to Egypt. Fred and George would send her pictures of their family and Harri would send back stories of Sirius' and Remus' constant prank war.

Some of the pranks were harmless, while others caused more damage to the house than magic could fix. There were quite a few scorch marks from where fires started. A few places where some of the scorch marks were located were, on the sitting room floor, the bedposts around the house, the _sink_, the ceiling and under Sirius' bed. Needless to say, Harri wasn't happy when the smoke alarms kept going off, but the letters she got back from the twins telling her to keep updating them on the pranks was enough to make her smile.

The only major surprise that summer was when Harri showed Sirius a picture of the Weasley family in Egypt. Her godfather became really quiet and snatched the picture right out of her hand. He ran right into the kitchen and called for Remus, who was at the house at the time. He was in between jobs again.

Remus ran into the room and everything became tense. Both Harri and Draco had their ears pressed against the door to the kitchen, wondering what was going on and why Sirius reacted so rashly to a picture.

"Remus, you know who that is! He isn't dead! He's been at Hogwarts the entire time! He could have hurt our Harri! What are we going to do?" they heard Sirius whisper frantically. Harri could tell that her godfather was really rattled by what he saw in the picture because he called her Harri and not Bambi.

"Sirius, find out when the Weasleys are coming back from their trip and then confront them about the problem. You're a high ranking Auror, there shouldn't be any struggle," they heard Remus reply calmly. Harri knew that Remus was only feigning his calm demeanor to help Sirius stay levelheaded, which was a feat all on its own. Despite being a top Auror Sirius was fantastic at panicking.

"I guess that you're right…do you think we should explain this to the kids? I mean they are standing right outside the doorway," Sirius asked loudly enough for Draco and Harri to hear. They both fell into the door in shock and tumbled into the kitchen, face first. Both of them got up and sat down at the table, where the two adults were, with sheepish smiles on their faces.

"What's the big secret?" Harri questioned as she sat down in the chair next to Draco. She didn't like it when her godfather hid things from her.

Sirius rubbed the back of his head and sighed, his grey eyes that were usually full of mischief were full of worry and anger. "Well, there's someone in the picture with the Weasleys that shouldn't be there. The rat on the youngest Weasley boy's shoulder is Peter Pettigrew…the man that killed your parents."

"Sirius, have a little more tacked than that!" Remus scolded by hitting him with a rolled up newspaper like a dog who misbehaved. "Harri, do you know when the Weasley's are coming back from their trip?"

"In a few weeks, why?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. She figured that things were beginning to get interesting with Remus and Sirius after the man that killed her parents.

"We're going to capture Peter before he hurts you. He's been at Hogwarts for three years. He could have done a number of things to you and your friends," Remus replied with a worried frown. "Speaking of possible curses that you might have been put under…Sirius, shouldn't Harri and Draco be going into Gringotts for their inheritance tests soon?"

"They'll be going next year. Thirteen is still a bit young for an inheritance test," he replied offhandedly.

"Yes, because fourteen is so much better," Remus retorted as he rolled his eyes at his best friend's logic.

The team to capture Peter Pettigrew was arranged by Sirius and he decided that it was going to be just him and Remus. He didn't want to get too many people involved in this. The traitor was then going to be brought to the ministry and put on trial for his crimes. Once he was found guilty he was going to be sent to Azkaban for the rest of his life, if he didn't get the dementor's kiss. The only thing left to do was wait for him to fall into the trap.

A rather interesting thing happened the morning of Harri's thirteenth birthday when the Hogwarts letters were dropped off. Instead of two owls being there, there were three, one for Harri, one for Draco and one more for either Sirius or Remus.

"Sirius, I think Hogwarts finally realized that you cheated on your NEWTs and is forcing you to go back to school!" Harri shouted as she took the extra letter from the owl.

"If I've told you once, I've told you a million times, I did not cheat on my exams!" Sirius yelled back as he walked into the room and saw the extra owl there. The owl hissed at him and flew back out the window. Harri looked at the extra letter and raised an eyebrow at the name on it.

"Who is it for?" Draco asked curiously from behind her.

"It's for Remus. I wonder what Hogwarts wants with him. I mean there's only one spot open…no way! He must be the new defense teacher!" Harri exclaimed jumping up and down in excitement. She was so happy that they'd finally have a competent Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

"So, this means that he's going to be called Professor Mooney!" Sirius said with a mischievous smirk that only meant trouble for Remus.

"I'm pretty sure that he's going to want to be called Professor Lupin, but I'm not going to argue with you, Sirius. Professor Mooney has a much better ring to it," Draco commented with his hands raised as a sigh of peace against the playful Marauder.

"He's going to be called Professor Mooney whenever I'm around!" he told Draco triumphantly. "Now, I'll make some breakfast to celebrate!"

There was a collective look of horror amongst the young teens before they screamed, "No!"

Then they looked at the hurt look on Sirius' face and backtracked a little bit. Harri then thought of something. Remus had to go out early that morning and would be back any minute.

"What we meant to say was, 'No, let's wait for Remus-" Harri saw the look on her godfather's face and she rolled her eyes. "I mean, Professor Mooney before we start eating, like we always do on my birthday.'"

Sirius' eyes lit up at the idea of waiting for Remus and nodded. Sometimes Harri thought that he acted more like a puppy than a human. He was pleased way too easily sometimes.

Remus came back a few minutes later with something in his arms. It looked like a crate of some sort that he would have gotten at a pet store. Harri raised an eyebrow at her honorary uncle. She knew that Hedwig was her Hogwarts animal and her familiar and Draco has an eagle owl as his Hogwarts animal, so, she was wondering why he had another animal crate.

"Remus, why do I smell a cat?" Sirius asked hostilely. Sirius hated cats with a passion, being a dog and all, they were natural enemies.

"Because I found this little kitten in the streets and I couldn't let it die!" Remus snapped and Sirius backed off slightly. Remus opened the cage and a little black cat with a single white paw came jumping out. It had one blue eye and one jade eye. Harri felt attached to the little fur ball right away.

The little kitten looked around the room and noticed Harri right away. The cat ran right up to her and started to purr. Harri picked up the little kitten and noticed right away that the cat was a girl.

"Hello, little one. My name is Harri and this is one crazy family you've gotten yourself mixed up in. Let me introduce you to everyone!" she told the little cat happily. The cat loved the attention she was getting and listened intently. She let everyone pet her, except Sirius, who she hissed at angrily. Sirius growled right back at the four pound cat, obviously the dislike was mutual.

"Bambi, you can't really be considering keeping that monstrosity?" Sirius asked almost looking betrayed.

"Sirius, it's a helpless little animal. Of course I'm going to help it and raise it," she answered with a raised eyebrow, almost baiting him to try and change her mind. "Anyway, who could say no to this cute little face!"

The cat looked innocent when Harri and the others were watching, but when all but Sirius weren't looking the cat glared at him. As Harri carried the cat up the stairs it gave almost a triumphant smirk. Harri and Draco named the cat Artemis and made her a bed in Harri's room.

Needless to say, Sirius sulked for the rest of the day, until Remus saw his letter from Hogwarts. Then loud shouts of Professor Mooney could be heard throughout the apartment.

The next few weeks in the apartment were tense. Sirius and Remus were preparing to capture of Peter, while Draco and Harri were doing some last minute school work.

The day of the capture was a sad one, because when they came back from the Weasley residence they came back looking defeated. Pettigrew had gotten away with nothing but a few scratches to tell that he had even been in a battle. They then had to go to the ministry and tell the Auror department of their failure. It was later that day that Harri found out why they looked so grim coming home. It wasn't only about the fact that Pettigrew got away.

"The minister thinks that it would be best for the wizarding world if dementors were to be placed at Hogwarts till Pettigrew is captured. Dumbledore, Remus and I all told him that it was a bed idea, but he wouldn't listen to us. I'm just warning you two now. They're not good creatures and I never want either of you going anywhere near them," he said giving them a stern look, but then his expression changed as he switched topics. "I have also been put on protection duty of one Harriet Potter. I'll be joining you for the year as your dog Snuffles, who will protect you from Peter. Remus is also going to be around to protect you, since he is your professor."

"So, you're telling me that I have another deranged lunatic after me? And now, I have my godfather and uncle watching me at all times during the first year that I'm allowed to visit Hogsmeade and go out on dates?" She asked incredulously.

"Who said anything about dating? I told you that you weren't dating until you were old and wrinkly and even then it would be a sketchy topic." Sirius replied with a frown.

**So, Sirius forgot that Harriet would one day want to date boys...silly Sirius. Anyway, sorry again for the delay, but Quebec City was lovely, with or without internet. I even managed to tan slightly while I was there. =) So, the next few chapters will be about Harriet's ride on the train and then her first few months at Hogwarts. I'm finishing book three by the end of the August, mostly because I'm going to have to stop my bi-weekly updates. I'll be going away to college and getting used to dorm life.**

**I'm glad that you're all putting up with me and because I failed to update on time this week I will be giving you a free update on Tuesday. No review goal, but I do want you to at least get to 420. (Pretty please?)**

**Okay, there was one question in the reviews about Hermione's love interest in the fourth book...well, I'm not giving away any dating spoilers. You won't know who is taking her to the ball till it happens. It could either be Viktor or Cedric, depends on my mood. Anyway, in two chapters it is the first Hogsmeade visit, which is going to include Harriet's first date! It is going to be very amusing.**

**Voting:**

**Pureblood: 6**

**Half-Blood: 3**

**Muggle-Born: 20**

**Keep up the voting! And if there are any questions don't be afraid to leave them in the reviews! RIP Philip...he will be missed, but his fang will come in handy later!**

**See you all Tuesday!**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I do not own Harry Potter, otherwise he would have had a much better life...and he would have been born a girl. XD**


	28. Chapter 28

**Happy Tuesday! Here's the chapter! I literally had one day to write this and edit it...I hope there aren't too many mistakes, fingers crossed! See you all at the bottom!**

**Chapter 28 **

**The Pain of Ice**

Harri wasn't excited to travel to Platform 9 ¾ for the first time in her Hogwarts career. She was going to be watched like a hawk by her family because there was a good chance that Peter Pettigrew would show up at any minute and attack her. On top of that, Sirius threated to bite any boy that tried to get too close to her. Well, any boy that wasn't Draco, Fred or George.

George was another issue on Harri's mind as she walked onto the platform. He hadn't been talking to her like he used to. Instead, he stared at her and let Fred do most of the talking. It was strange, usually he was very open with her, almost to the point where she knew everything about him and vice versa.

When she was getting on the train with Draco and Snuffles, she bumped into someone she hadn't seen all summer long. Both girls were rubbing their foreheads where they snacked into each other. The other girl had long flowing black hair that curled slightly at the ends that framed her pale, yet elegant face nicely. "Wendi, what are you doing on the Hogwarts express? Shouldn't you be going to Durmstrang right about now?" Harri asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I was, but my parents thought that the book list focused a little too heavily on the dark arts and transferred me to Hogwarts…I can't believe that you all arrive by train. How do you not hurt each other before you arrive?" Wendi replied with an amused smile.

"With a lot of self-restraint. So, do you know what house you're going to be in?" Draco asked from behind Harri.

Wendi's eyes lit up at the mention of the school houses. "I do! I was sorted into Gryffindor during the summer. I also picked my classes, though I don't know which electives you picked so I guess I'll wait and see if we have the same ones," Wendi explained quietly, then she noticed Snuffles. "Harri, why is there a dog next to you? I know that your familiar is Hedwig..."

Harri looked around nervously before sighing. "Let's get a compartment, settle down, and then we can talk some more," she replied hesitantly.

It took them a few minutes, but they finally found a compartment with Luna and Hermione, who had a cat on her lap with a rather flat face, and Neville already in it waiting for them. "What took you so long and why do you have a dog with you?" Hermione exclaimed happily when she saw her friends. Her smile faltered slightly at the sight of Wendi walking in behind Harri. Neville on the other hand blushed a bright pink at the sight of the new girl.

"I ran into Wendi on the train! She's transferred to Hogwarts and is going to be rooming with us!" Harri answered excitedly as she put her stuff down and pat Snuffles on the head. "I have a dog with me because there is another lunatic after me and the ministry wants me protected at all times."

"So they gave you a guard dog? Surely the ministry could do better than that," Hermione murmured and Snuffles growled slightly at the insult. Harri flicked his nose.

"I assure you, Hermione, Snuffles is the best protection I could ask for," she told her friend confidently.

Harri then let out Artemis and let her explore the compartment with Hermione's cat that named Crookshanks. Snuffles watched the cats warily.

The group talked together about classes and electives till Harri decided she was going to look for the twins and try to talk to George.

She left the compartment to find George, Snuffles following close behind. She figured that he would be in a compartment with his brother and Lee Jordan laughing it up over a joke they pulled back in Egypt on Percy who made Head Boy. She figured her guess wasn't far off because she saw Percy storming away with his Head Boy badge saying Big Headed Boy instead, she knew she was in the right place.

She knocked on the compartment that Percy stormed out of and it was opened a few moments later by Fred, who looked surprised to see Harri there. Fred and George had grown in at least four inches over the summer and they now towered over her more than they used to, much to her annoyance. "Hello, Harri. Is there something we can do for you?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, I'm here to speak with your brother. Do you and Lee mind stepping out for a little bit while I talk with him?" she replied and Fred shrugged and dragged Lee out into the hallway and motioned for Harri to go in. Snuffles tried to walk in with her, but she glared at him and pointed at the floor.

"You stay here. I'll be right inside the compartment. The first sign of trouble and you can come in, got it?" she ordered and he nodded dejectedly. Harri rolled her eyes and walked in.

George was staring out the window, not making eye contact. His long fingers were fidgeting, showing how nervous he was. He watched Harri out of the corner of his eye apprehensively as she sat down next to him.

"George, I know you've been avoiding me. I'd like to know why," Harri whispered loud enough for him to hear the worried tone in her voice. He cringed. He didn't want her to be worried about him. He had realized his feelings for Harri this summer and didn't want to ruin their friendship by starting something with her, so he tried to avoid her instead, but it hadn't been working. It was like he was drawn to her, no matter how hard he tried to pull himself away, he'd just end up near her again.

"It's nothing. I just have a lot on my mind," he responded weakly. Didn't she realize that he wasn't comfortable with her so close? If he was being honest with himself, it wasn't that he was uncomfortable with her close proximity, but it was the fact that he was too comfortable with her so close. She was close enough for him to see the gold flecks in her bright green eyes. He tried to become one with the wall of the Hogwarts express, but Harri wasn't having any of that.

"We both know that that's a lie, George. I'm your best friend, why aren't you talking to me? Did I do something to offend you?" she asked quickly. George could almost hear the desperation in her voice and he sat further into the corner of the compartment wall.

"No, it was nothing you did. Something happened this summer that changed my outlook on certain things and I'm worried that it will ruin our friendship," George answered carefully. He knew that he was treading on thin ice and if he said the wrong thing he'd have a crying Harri on his hands and he sucked at making crying girls feel better.

"Is this because another crazy guy is after me? George, if you felt like you were in danger because of me, you should have said something-" she was cut off mid rant when George glared at her.

"Not everything is bloody about you! Maybe this is just a problem that I have to sort out by myself!" He shouted and Harri looked absolutely affronted.

"You said it had something to do with our friendship! And here I thought that had something to do with me! You're such a prat sometimes! I'm just trying to fix things!" she yelled back.

"You can't fix everything! There are some problems you can't stick your nose in and make it all better!" he snapped back, his blue eyes flashing in anger. Harri's braid stood on end and her hair turned red, she was angry and George was in deep trouble.

"Oh, so now I'm sticking my nose into something that doesn't apply to me! Who are you and what have you done with the George Weasley that I've known for two years? The one I know wouldn't be screaming at me!" she sniffed, barely holding back tears. She was not going to let him see her cry.

George nearly gasped when he realized how cold hearted he had been acting and tried to backtrack. He didn't mean to hurt her feelings. He reached out to the petite girl next to him. "Harri-" he started to say, but she shrugged him off.

"Save your breath, this was a mistake," Harri said standing up and making her way to the door, until the Hogwarts express came to a sudden stop. Harri fell forward falling into the seats across from her.

George went to help her up, but she glare at him, "Don't you dare touch me. I'm still mad at you!" she snarled as she picked herself off the floor. The door opened and she heard something come in and close the door behind it. It was Snuffles, but he quickly transformed into her godfather.

"Bambi, you okay? I figured that this was a sign of trouble so I came in," Sirius said right as the temperature dropped suddenly. The windows began to freeze and her godfather sucked in a breath.

Slowly but surely the door that Sirius had closed lurched open and a decayed hand peaked through the crack. A hooded figure entered compartment and it took a breath in. Harri suddenly felt all the air leave her chest. She felt an immense chill sweep through her entire body. As soon as the cold pierced her heart she felt herself fall backwards into someone's arms. Harri felt like she was being drowned in ice, being pulled farther and farther down till she heard frantic and pleading screams of her name. She wanted to help the woman who was screaming. Harri struggled to move, but her limbs were too heavy…

"Harri! Harri, come on, wake up!" someone shouted distantly, shaking her shoulders lightly. Harri felt herself regain consciousness and she opened her eyes weakly. She saw George's, Sirius' and surprisingly Remus' face looming over her looking worried. She wondered when Remus had wandered into the compartment, but didn't say anything about it.

That was when she realized that she was on the floor and she wondered how she got there.

"What happened? I feel like I've been hit by the Whomping Willow," Harri groaned as she sat up. She felt a pair of arms help her up and she noticed that they were George's. She figured that he must have caught her. She was brought out of her musings when Remus held out some chocolate for her to eat.

"Eat this, it will help," Remus told her and she bit a piece off, savoring the flavor and relaxing in George's arms, her anger towards him temporarily forgotten. "What was just in this compartment was a dementor…I'm sure that you read about them before, Harri. Snuffles and I are going to go and check the compartments farther up for any trouble. Come on, Sirius."

Sirius sighed and changed into Snuffles and followed Remus out of the compartment, leaving Harri and George alone again.

"What happened when the dementor came in?" Harri asked as she got off the floor and her friend.

"You collapsed and I caught you. It looked like you were having a seizure. Sirius pulled out his wand and a silver dog came out and chased the dementor away," George explained as he got up from the floor.

"Look, George, about what happened before the train stopped-" Harri began to say, but was cut off.

"Let's pretend that it never happened. I'm sorry for being a prat, forgive me?" he asked pleadingly with a cute pout.

Harri sighed, how could she say no that? "Fine, you're forgiven, but don't ever pull something like that on me again!" she hissed angrily. George visibly gulped thinking about what Harri might do to him for nearly making her cry.

Everything had returned back to normal at Hogwarts, classes had begun. Harri had found out that Wendi was in all her classes. Hermione was also in all her classes, but what Harri found interesting was that Hermione was taking every single class possible. She wasn't sure how her friend was doing it, but Harri worried for Hermione's sanity. Harri wasn't sure if Hermione was going to be able to pull off the workload.

Harri enjoyed her new electives, especially Ancient Runes. Sadly, her least favorite class had to be Care of Magical Creatures since Hagrid had an incident during his first lesson with Alya causing trouble during his lesson concerning Hippogriffs. She had managed to get her arm broken and Hagrid nearly lost his job. So, needless to say, the lessons had become boring since then.

Her regular classes were just as enjoyable as they had been the previous year. Harri was breezing through charms and transfigurations, sleeping through History of Magic, and star grazing during Astronomy, but she was still fighting with Snape in Potions. Despite the fighting she was still getting top marks.

The most interesting lesson that she had was Defense against the Dark Arts with Remus. He had found a Boggart in the teachers' room. He had told Neville to come up first to start the lesson. Neville was beyond nervous, he was visibly shaking. He kept looking back towards Wendi who smiled encouragingly back. The two of them seemed to get along quite well.

"Today we are going to learn about Boggarts, can anyone tell me what a Boggart is?" Remus asked the class, and Hermione's hand shot up right away.

"It's a shape-shifter," she said. "It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most."

"Very good, Ms. Granger. Now, the Boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a Boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears."

"This means," Professor Mooney said, choosing to ignore Neville's small sputter of terror, "That we have a huge advantage over the Boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harri?"

"It means that because there are so many of us it won't know which form to take," she answered quickly.

"Exactly right. It's always best to have company when you're dealing with a Boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug? I once saw a Boggart make that very mistake. He tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening. The charm that repels a Boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind. You see, the thing that really finishes a Boggart is laughter. What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find amusing. We will practice the charm without wands first. After me, please… _riddikulus_!" Remus explained and the class was captured by his lesson and did what he said without complaint.

Harri personally thought that the spell sounded like a noise you made when you sneezed, but she kept it to herself and followed along with the rest of the class.

"Right, Neville," Remus said with an encouraging smile. "First things first: what would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?"

Neville's lips moved, but no noise came out. Harri heard Wendi sigh next to her and rolled her eyes. It was obvious to Harri that Wendi knew what Neville was most afraid of, actually, Harri had a good idea of what Neville feared most in the world as well.

"I didn't catch that, Neville, sorry," Professor Mooney said cheerfully.

Neville looked around rather wildly, as though begging someone to help him, then said, in barely more than a whisper, "Professor Snape."

Harri nearly burst out laughing, she knew that this was going to be an even better lesson than she had imagined.

Nearly everyone laughed. Even Neville grinned apologetically.

"Professor Snape," he chuckled, "Yes, frightens us all."

Remus' expression turned thoughtful.

"Professor Snape… hmmm… Neville, I believe you live with your grandmother?"

"Er, yes," Neville replied rather nervously. "But I don't want the Boggart to turn into her either."

"No, no, you misunderstand me," Professor Mooney told him, now smiling. "I wonder, could you tell us what sort of clothes your grandmother usually wears?"

Neville told Remus what his grandmother usually wears and Harri was biting her knuckles to stop herself from laughing. She knew where Remus was going with this and couldn't wait to see the end results.

"When the Boggart bursts out of this wardrobe, Neville, and sees you, it will assume the form of Professor Snape," Remus explained. "And you will raise your wand, and cry 'Riddikulus'. Concentrate hard on your grandmother's clothes. If all goes well, the Boggart will be forced into that vulture-topped hat, and that green dress, with that big red handbag."

There was a great shout of laughter. The wardrobe wobbled more violently.

"If Neville is successful, the Boggart is likely to shift his attention to each of us in turn," Remus said. "I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical…"

Harri stopped paying attention to the class for a moment to try and figure out what she was most afraid of. Despite popular belief she wasn't afraid of Voldemort. He was a hypocrite and after everything he'd done to her she couldn't feel anything but anger towards him. When she thought of things she was afraid of the only image that came to mind was a cloaked figure that made her insides turn to ice, dementors…

"Everyone ready?" Professor Mooney said.

Harri had no idea how she was going to make a dementor comical, but she was at least going to try.

"Neville, we're going to back away," Remus instructed. "Let you have a clear field, all right? I'll call the next person forward… Everyone back, now, so Neville can get a clear shot —"

They all retreated, backed against the walls, leaving Neville alone beside the wardrobe. He looked pale and frightened, but he had pushed up the sleeves of his robes and was holding his wand ready.

"On the count of three, Neville," Remus said calmly, who was pointing his own wand at the handle of the wardrobe. "One — two — three —now!"

A jet of sparks shot from the end of Remus' wand and hit the doorknob. The wardrobe burst open. Hook-nosed and menacing, Professor Snape stepped out, his eyes flashing at Neville.

Neville backed away, his wand up, mouthing wordlessly. Snape was bearing down upon him, reaching inside his robes.

"_R — r — riddikulus_! " Neville squeaked.

There was a noise like a whip cracking. Snape stumbled, he was wearing a long, lace-trimmed dress and a towering hat topped with a moth-eaten vulture, and he was swinging a huge crimson handbag. The class burst out laughing and the Boggart stumbled backwards.

"Very good, Parvati, forward!" Remus shouted and the class continued to change the Boggart into funny things, but when it was Harri's turn Remus stepped in front of her and finished the creature off by turning his worst fear, the full moon, into a deflating balloon. That annoyed Harri slightly, but she knew why he did it…he didn't want Voldemort stepping out into the middle of the classroom.

"Excellent!" cried Professor Mooney as the class broke into applause. "Excellent, Neville. Well done, everyone… Let me see… five points to Gryffindor for every person to tackle the Boggart, ten for Neville because he did it twice… and five each to Hermione and Harri."

Harri clicked her tongue he was clever and called on both of them in the beginning of class, he knew that neither of them would face the Boggart in the first place. She was going to have to talk with him later on how to repel dementors. She didn't want to be afraid of them any longer.

"Very well, everyone, an excellent lesson. Homework, kindly read the chapter on Boggarts and summarize it for me… to be handed in on Monday. That will be all."

Harri figured for the first week of classes, things could have gone a lot worse…she still had her first Hogsmeade trip to survive after all.

**I spent my morning editing this. I sat down and read it out loud for a half an hour and then read it again before I posted it. I hope I did okay. I'll have a better time with the next chapter because I know what I want to happen. I already have a title: Snuffles, the Chaser of Men. It's going to be an amusing chapter to write. **

**So, there was some trouble in paradise for Harriet and George. I'm giving subtle hints to an aspect that I'm going to bring in for the next book. I mentioned it in the last chapter as well and I'll give you a hint, a Tri-Wizard Champion has something to do with it. =3 I also haven't gotten any correct guesses on what I'm going to do to royally screw with story line in the sixth book. You will be given a spot as a minor character in the story if you guess correctly with either and I have given hints for both! (okay only song titles for the sixth, but still...)**

**Now, thank you all so much for reviewing, favoriting, and alerting to this story! It means so much to me that you're enjoying the series!**

**To voting:**

**Pureblood: 7**

**Half-Blood: 3**

**Muggle-Born: 25**

**I always have fun watching the voting. So, the Hogsmeade date will be in the next chapter. It will definitely be interesting. Poor George...**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter...**


	29. Chapter 29

**Bam, over 100,000 words! ****So, this chapter was actually harder to write than I thought it would be...Enjoy the chapter and see you at the bottom!**

**Chapter 29**

**Snuffles, the Chaser of Men**

There were only a few things that annoyed Harri in the weeks that followed her fantastic Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. One, was Alya insulting Remus constantly in her presence, she was hexed for by multiple people, who were never caught and remained nameless. Two, was Snape taking out all his frustration with Remus' lesson out on her. She didn't understand how it was her fault, she may have been in the room, but she didn't whisper the idea into Remus' ear. And three, was the way Sirius, aka Snuffles, was chasing away all the guys that came near her.

It was painfully obvious that boys had started to notice that she wasn't exactly a little girl anymore. Harri was pretty, even the pureblooded Slytherin males admitted it. The only problem the boys had was getting past her dog, Snuffles, who would bite any male that got too close. There were only three males allowed to talk to Harri and they were Draco and the Weasley twins.

Harri was not happy with the way her godfather was acting in his dog form. Sure, he could scare away a few Slytherins and pretend to attack Alya, making her run into a solid wall…but scaring away all the guys that come to talk to her was another thing entirely. Some of them were just her friends and would remain so, like poor Neville, who Harri was sure would be afraid of dogs for the rest of his life. Sirius also seemed to have an unspoken grudge against Cedric Diggory. He almost bit his hand when he tried to pet Sirius.

So, when everyone went outside the castle for the first Hogsmeade visit of the year, Harri spent it flying around the pitch, Snuffles watching from the stands. She figured that someone would lose a limb trying to ask her out, so she stayed on the castle grounds.

A few hours later Oliver found her flying around and joined her in the air, much to Snuffles horror. He didn't think that anyone would join her, so he spent the remainder of the afternoon pacing around in circles trying to figure out how to fly and protect Harri from her captain.

The two had a good time in the air and Harri was happy that someone was treating her normally for the first time in weeks. She was tired of the strange looks people were giving her in the hallways.

"Ready for the match against Slytherin?" Oliver asked taking her out of her reverie.

"Yep, we're going to win this year for sure! The last two years were just flukes. This year there isn't a crazy teacher out to kill me or a giant snake petrifying people in the hallways to ruin our chances of winning!" She replied with a grin and Oliver ruffled her hair, pulling it out of its braid. A loud barking could be heard from the ground and Harri rolled her eyes.

"Glad to know that you're in the right frame of mind…" Oliver said before glancing down at Snuffles, "Is there something wrong with your dog?"

"Oh, there are a lot of things wrong with my dog. I better get going before he does something stupid. I'll see you at practice," she told him, waving goodbye as she descended down onto the pitch. Snuffles practically tackled her to the ground. "You're a piece of work, Snuffles, you know that?" Snuffles wagged his tail happily.

Two days before the match Oliver had some unsettling news for the Gryffindor team, they weren't going to be playing Slytherin. They were going to play Hufflepuff instead. Oliver spent both days trying to teach Harri everything he knew about the Hufflepuff team and their seeker, Cedric, before the match. He nearly caused her to be late for Defense Against the Dark Arts. She ran to the class as quickly as possible and made it right before Snape came into the room.

Harri knew that a full moon was coming up and Remus was too sick to teach, but why did he leave Snape in charge of his lessons? To make matters worse he didn't even follow Remus' lesson plan and started to teach them about werewolves. Harri nearly hexed him for subtly broadcasting Remus' secret to the student body. He then gave them a ridiculously long assignment and sent them on their way.

Soon enough it was the first match of the year. It was Gryffindor against Hufflepuff. Cedric had been chosen as their new captain and Oliver was nervous since their playing style could have changed and on top of that it was pouring outside, much to both teams dismay.

Oliver was close to having a nervous breakdown the morning of the match. The entire team was sitting in the locker room listening to Oliver's latest pep talk. "This is going to be a tough one…"

"Don't worry, Oliver, we don't mind a bit of rain," Alicia told her captain soothingly.

From what Harri could hear from outside, it was more than just a bit of rain, so she charmed her glasses to repel water and left with the rest of the team to the pitch. Surprisingly, the entire school was outside watching the match despite the horrid weather.

The match began quickly and within five minutes she was soaked to the bone with water. Harri usually liked the rain, but not when she's being pelted by it. The bludgers, unlike the players, were having a field day. They were nearly unseating everyone since they could barely be seen between the thick sheets of rain. Lucky for her George was around and keeping them off her back.

Harri was keeping a close eye on Cedric, who was flying on the opposite side of the field looking around through the rain for the snitch, but the little elusive ball was keeping itself hidden, she figured that it didn't like the weather either.

The sky kept becoming darker and darker till things started looking dangerous. Lighting was continuously flashing in the distance and getting closer by the minute. That was when Harri saw it, the snitch was flying high above the stands and she flew after it quickly. She saw Cedric chasing after it at the same time.

"Come on," she muttered as she closed in on the little golden ball. She and Cedric were neck and neck. That was when Harri pulled a slightly dirty trick. When Cedric was looking at her she sent him a very flirtatious wink, which confused him long enough for her to pull ahead of him.

She had just about closed her hand around the ball, her fingers brushed it, when an eerie silence filled the crowd, it was as if the sound had been turned off. That was when she felt a familiar cold pierce the air. She looked down and saw at least a hundred dementors below.

Their hidden faces pointing up at her, were floating beneath her. It was as though freezing water were rising in her chest, cutting at her insides. And then she heard it again… Someone was screaming, screaming inside her head… a woman…

_"Not Harriet, not Harriet, please not Harriet!"_

_ "Step aside, you silly girl…stand aside, now…"_

_ "Not Harriet! Please… have mercy… have mercy…"_

Harri wanted to help the woman, she was going to be killed, but she was falling through an icy mist. She abruptly stopped, what had stopped her fall? Before she could fully realize what happened she lost consciousness.

"She could have died! She's once lucky girl to have a friend who would catch her midair!" a familiar voice whispered.

Harri's eyes opened tiredly. She was greeted to the sight of her quidditch team covered head to toe in mud with Hermione, Draco, Luna, Neville and Wendi drenched and dripping next to her. She then realized that she was in the hospital wing.

"How did I end up here?" Harri croaked scaring everyone around her. Hermione launched herself onto the bed and hugged Harri tightly.

"The dementors came onto the pitch and you fell off your broom," Draco explained. "Cedric caught you before you hit the ground…Harri you could have died!"

"What about the match?" Harri asked after her friend finished speaking. The team looked solemn.

"Well, Cedric wanted to call a rematch, but the teachers wouldn't have it. The snitch was fried by a strike of lightning. So, the professors awarded him a hundred and fifty points for catching you. At this point we don't care. We're just happy that you're alive," Fred replied ruffling her hair. Harri wondered where her godfather was, since he had been at the match, but shrugged it off. He was probably yelling at Dumbledore for letting the dementors anywhere near the school.

"Wait, where's my broom?" Harri asked sitting up quickly. Her head spun and her vision swam with the motion, but she didn't care.

"It flew into the Whomping Willow," George replied holding the splintered remains of her broom. Harri gasped, she couldn't believe her luck, and it wasn't even a Monday.

Fifteen minutes later Madam Pomfrey shooed them all out of the room, hoping for a little quiet, but the door opened moments later. Cedric walked in looking sheepish when he noticed Harri was awake.

Harri waved and he waved back. Madam Pomfrey sighed, "Just a few minutes Mr. Diggory. You did save her after all."

The fifth year Hufflepuff blushed at the mention of his heroic act and sat down next to Harri's bed. "Thanks for saving me," she whispered when the older witch was out of earshot.

"No problem. I-I actually had a question for you…" Cedric said uncertainly, avoiding eye contact.

"Ask away," Harri replied with a smile. By the way he was stuttering and blushing she had a good idea of what his question was going to pertain to.

"Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me?" he asked hopefully. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he was nervous, it was rather endearing.

"I'd love to," Harri answered honestly. He saved her life after all, it was the least she could do.

His eyes lit up at her reply and he gave her a tight hug and pecked her cheek. "You won't regret it. If you need anything just tell me and I'll be there," he told her before leaving her in hospital wing, while she touched her cheek in shock.

She ended up falling asleep a few minutes later, completely drained from her ordeal with the dementors. She woke up at midnight to the light padding of feet next to her bed. She cracked one eye open to see bright blue eyed, messy red headed blur sit down next to her.

"What are we going to do with you, Harri," George whispered softly and Harri smirked, he didn't know she was awake.

"I don't know, maybe you can give her the glasses on the table so she can see," she answered and he jumped slightly, swearing in surprise. Harri giggled quietly, grabbed her glasses from the table and put them on. Her vision cleared up right away.

"I didn't think that you'd be awake…" he said with a slight blush on his cheeks. He ran a hand through his hair waiting for her to answer.

"I'm a really light sleeper, growing up with a prankster godfather and all," she replied with a small smile, but it turned into a frown. "Honestly, I wasn't really sleeping all that peacefully anyway…"

"Why are you in pain or something?" George questioned his friend checking her over for any injuries.

"No, well, kind of. It's not physical pain. Every time the dementors get close to me I hear a woman screaming for me to be spared. I realize now that it's my mum begging Voldemort not to kill me. It just keeps replaying in my head over and over again. It makes for a lovely nightmare," she explained with a grimace.

George got up and sat on the bed with her, holding her in his arms. "You should talk to Mooney and Padfoot. Maybe they'll be able to help, and if they can't, then you can always talk to me," he told her.

"You sound like Cedric," she mumbled and George went ridged. He didn't like her tone of voice when she said his name.

"When did you see Diggory?" he questioned quietly, but not as hostilely as normal, she was recovering from an attack after all.

"This afternoon after you all left. He asked me to go to Hogsmeade with him," she answered drifting off in his arms.

"I see, it sounds like you said yes," he said sounded tired and defeated. He really didn't like Cedric Diggory.

"He saved my life, it was the least I could do. He's a nice guy and he was really polite about asking me…It would have been rude for me to say no," Harri answered with a yawn.

"So, you're only going with him because he saved your life? Not because you have some secret crush on him?" George asked in a teasing tone as relief flooded through his body.

"No, I haven't had a crush on him, you git, but I'm still going to go out on a date with him and if all goes well I might go on another one. Nothing is set in stone. I'm only thirteen after all," Harri told him with a light laugh.

"True, but isn't Cedric a bit to in love with following the rules for you?" George reasoned, trying to talk her out of her date.

"He isn't that bad, he's just honorable. Now, I'm tired and you should be getting back to Common Room before Madam Pomfrey comes to check on me and sees you here," she told him with a sad smile. She didn't really want him to go, but she didn't want him getting into more trouble than normal.

He slowly got off the bed and sat back down in the chair, "I'll leave when you fall asleep, otherwise you'll stay up brooding all night."

Harri huffed at his accusation, even though she knew it was true. George was true to his word and didn't move until she dozed off an hour later. When Harri opened her eyes the following morning she found a heavy weight on her feet and when she looked down she saw Snuffles fast asleep, drooling on the blankets.

She nudged him slightly and he stirred. As soon as he noticed she was awake he jumped off the bed and turned back into her godfather, who gave her a bone crushing hug. The two talked quietly for a few minutes before Remus came in and sighed with relief when he saw Harri awake.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, acting like a concerned parent and that made Harri smile.

"Emotionally drained, whenever the dementors get too close I hear Voldemort killing my mum…is there any way to make it stop? George told me that you guys were able to repel them on the train. Is there any way for me lean how?" she asked hopefully.

Remus sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "It's really advanced magic. How about I teach you after the holidays are over? I have my furry little problem to deal with," he replied and Harri nodded in agreement.

It wasn't long before it was time for her to go on her date. The only problem she was having was getting rid of Snuffles, who knew something was going on. Harri woke up early that morning to get dressed in warm clothing so she wasn't too cold outside. She put on her basilisk necklace for good luck and put her plan into action.

Harri had some help escaping Gryffindor Tower in the form of two mischievous cats. Artemis and Crookshanks chased Snuffles around the common room till they cornered him under a table, which was when Harri made her escape from the common room.

She found it funny that her godfather was terrified of two cats, but she figured that it worked to her advantage. She shouldn't have any problems with her date with her godfather preoccupied.

The grounds were coated with a healthy amount of snow that was continuously falling, but at this point in time it wasn't sticking to the ground.

She made it to Hogsmeade without a problem and saw Cedric waiting for her near the gates. She waved to him and he smiled at her. The two walked through the village, Cedric showed her around since she had never been there before. She got quite a few Christmas gifts for her friends and family at the multiple shops her date showed her. The duo found themselves at The Three Broomsticks sipping butterbeer together.

Despite her best efforts to seem interested in what he was saying, Harri was bored. Harri figured that Hermione would love talking to Cedric about the history of Hogsmeade. She would have rather spent the day with the George, who she saw was walking around by himself, Fred was trying to woo Angelina and left his brother alone. She had never seen the twins separate themselves willingly from each other, but it seemed that Fred cut the strings for the day.

"Having fun?" Cedric asked watching her expressions carefully as she played with her necklace absentmindedly. Despite popular belief he wasn't stupid, he knew that she was distracted by something, since she hadn't really been paying any attention to their date.

"I am, I just have a lot on my mind," she replied quickly.

"You're thinking about someone else then? I know that look, I see it a lot as a Hufflepuff, you're loyal to a fault, Harriet Potter. You should go and make sure your friend is alright. It didn't seem like this date was going all that well anyway. I think we're better off friends," Cedric told her with a bittersweet smile.

"Alright, if you're sure? Thank you for putting up with me anyway," Harri said as she got up and grabbed her bag, but before she left she kissed Cedric's cheek. "That's for being sweet."

The third year ran out of the pub and looked for a tall red head in the crowd. She found him a few moments later walking back towards the castle. Harri sprinted over to him and tackled him to the snowy ground below.

"Caught you!" Harri yelled in triumph when she finally caught her breath. George was surprised to see the raven haired girl, she was supposed to be having a good time with Diggory.

"What are you doing here? Did Diggory stand you up? Am I going to have to beat him up for you?" he asked with sly smirk. He was really looking for a reason to punch the pretty boy.

"No, we decided that it wasn't working, so I came to say hello to you!" she replied with a full blown smile.

"Well, you found me, so what are you going to do now?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Harri's eyes twinkled mischievously as she grabbed a handful of snow and smashed it into George's face. "You realize that this means war, right?" the fifth year stated as he wiped the snow off his face.

The two stumbled into the castle a few hours later, covered in snow and dripping wet. They were lucky that they didn't get sick, but even if they did, they wouldn't have cared. They love every moment they spent together.

**Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. It probably wasn't exactly what you all had in mind, but I think it turned out pretty well. I don't think Harriet is completely ready for a relationship yet, as she stated in the chapter "I'm only thirteen" and I think that's true. There's only going to be like one more chapter of year three. This year bores me so much...you have no idea. Since there isn't a Prisoner of Azkaban there isn't really too much going on, as you can easily tell. **

**So, the next chapter is going to be the Quidditch final, Anti-Dementor charm lessons, and some other third thing that I'm forgetting...(I'll check that later tonight when I start writing the chapter)**

**Thank you for all the reviews! They mean so much to me! I'm glad I'm not disappointing anyone with my grammar mistakes. =)**

**Now, some things that I need to address!**

**Evans137: Yea, I know I haven't put Snape in this book all that much, but he'll be in the next one a lot more.**

**No one correctly guessed what I was going to do with the fourth book...here's another hint, it doesn't have to do with the Tri-Wizard Champion males. =) I dropped more hints to what I'm going to do in the this chapter as well. If you read into some of the sentences in the first few paragraphs you might get it.**

**No one got the sixth book either, that one is just going to through everyone for a loop. Keep guessing!**

**Now, the review goal this week is going to be 460! Get to it before Tuesday!**

**Voting:**

**Pureblood: 8**

**Half-Blood: 3**

**Muggle-Born: 30 **

**I see what the votes are leaning towards...XD**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter**


	30. Chapter 30

**You guys made the review goal by a landslide! I got a new laptop and was playing with it this week. I hope this chapter is up to my usual standards! Enjoy the chapter! I'll see you all at the bottom! =)**

**Chapter 30**

**A Father's Protection**

Christmas came and went in a loud fashion. Sirius had decided to get his goddaughter a new broom, more specifically a Firebolt, much to Harri's absolute horror and joy. She hated that he spent so much money on her, but she was overjoyed that she had a new broom. Harri had always refused to have Sirius spend a lot of money on her. She uses her trust vault to pay for all her expenses. Her godfather's only response was that he needed to spoil her every now and again, otherwise he would seem neglectful. Of course, no matter how mad she was at him for spending money on her, she did thank him for hours and then went out to take it for a test flight.

She deemed the broom a more than worthy flying partner. She let the twins and Draco have a go on it when they asked.

With the winter starting to come to close Harri was beginning to think that Peter just ran off to Voldemort and didn't even think of attacking her. He had been at the school for two years and hadn't done anything.

It was a chilly Tuesday afternoon and Remus was backing teaching, though, he looked terrible. Hermione had been watching Remus warily whenever Harri went near him. Harri realized that she was going to have to talk to her friend about her behavior towards her honorary uncle later.

Harri approached him after class and asked about the anti-dementor lessons, she needed to be able to handle them for her next match against Ravenclaw. Oliver had been questioning her all week to see if she could handle the foul creatures. She didn't want to disappoint her captain, so she promised that she would start her lessons within the week.

She stood in front of Remus' desk for a few seconds before he noticed that she was there. "Something I can do for you, Harri?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yea, I was wondering when we could start with the anti-dementor charm. With the match against Ravenclaw coming up I want to be fully prepared in case the dementors come back," Harri replied urgently.

"Let me see… how about eight o'clock on Thursday evening? The History of Magic classroom should be large enough… I'll have to think carefully about how we're going to do this… We can't bring a real Dementor into the castle to practice on…" Remus told her, sounding more like he was thinking out loud than actually answering her question.

"Sure, I'll see you Thursday," Harri said as Hermione pulled her out of the classroom and back to their dorm.

As soon as they were up to their dorm, Hermione shut the door and casted a silencing charm on the room. "You know about Professor Lupin, don't you?" she asked nervously.

Harri rolled her eyes, flicking her braid off her shoulder and letting it fall behind her back. "Of course I know. I've known him since I was an infant," Harri answered.

"And you aren't worried that you might get hurt?"

"No, I'm not and you shouldn't either. We know he wouldn't hurt us. Sirius and I both worry about him, his condition makes him really sick. We're always worried that he might hurt himself really badly one night," she replied with a frown. "You better not tell anyone about this."

Hermione looked offended from Harri's obvious mistrust and sighed. "I wasn't planning on telling anyone in the first place. It's his secret, not mine," Hermione replied.

The rest of the week passed quickly and before Harri knew it, it was Thursday night. She went into the History of Magic room and found Remus standing in front of a shaking trunk. Harri realized that he had a boggart in the trunk and smiled slightly. She was glad that they weren't going to practice on a real dementor. She had told him and Sirius that her greatest fear was a dementor shortly after the attack at the quidditch match.

"Where did you managed to find another boggart?" Harri asked eyeing the trunk, waiting for the creature inside it to jump out at her.

"Filch's filing cabinet. So, it will turn into a dementor and you can learn to repel it. Mind you, it won't be as strong as a regular dementor, but it's a good start," Remus told her confidently.

Harri didn't return her uncle's confidence. She eyed the trunk and sighed. "Okay, what's the charm that I'm going to need to learn?" Harri questioned pulling her wand out, ready to practice.

"The spell I am going to try and teach you is highly advanced magic, Harri. Well, beyond Ordinary Wizarding Level. It is called the Patronus Charm," He answered her as he took out his own wand.

"I've read a little bit a Patronus…it repels dementors through positive energy right?" Harri said unsure of herself.

"Nearly, the Patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the Dementor feeds upon: hope, happiness, the desire to survive, but it cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the Dementors can't hurt it. But I must warn you, Harri, that the charm might be too advanced for you. Many qualified wizards have difficulty with it." Remus warned her.

"Thanks for the encouraging words…" she mumbled sarcastically. "Now, what's the incantation, Professor Mooney?"

Remus tried not to roll his eyes at her behavior. She was raised by Sirius after all. "I'm going to kill your godfather for coming up with that nickname. The incantation is Expecto patronum. You'll need to concentrate on a single happy memory. I'll give you a moment to think of one," Remus instructed.

Harri raked through her brain, trying to come up with a memory happy enough to repel a soul sucking monster. The first memory that came to mind was seeing Draco waking up after being petrified for weeks.

"Thought of a memory, Harri?" she nodded. "Then try it out and see if something happens. We won't use the boggart this time."

She concentrated on her memory and calmly said, "Expecto patronum!" a silvery wisp came out of her want and made a decent sized shield in front of her.

"Very good," Remus said smiling. "Ready to try it on a dementor?"

Harri nodded quickly and focused on her happy memory again and waited for him to open the trunk. Remus slowly grabbed the lid and pulled it open.

A Dementor rose slowly from the box, its hooded face turned toward Harri, one glistening, scabbed hand gripping its cloak. The lamps around the classroom flickered and went out. The Dementor stepped from the box and started to sweep silently toward Harri, drawing a deep, rattling breath. A wave of piercing cold broke over her and she could feel a wave of despair hit her.

"Expecto patronum!" Harri yelled. "Expecto patronum! Expecto-"

Her vision dissolved quickly and she once again was falling through an icy fog, her mother's voice was louder than ever, echoing inside her head, _"Not Harriet! Not Harriet! Please, I'll do anything —"_

_ "Stand aside, stand aside, girl —"_

_ "Harriet!"_

Harri opened her eyes slowly and realized that she was looking at the ceiling of the History of Magic classroom. She didn't have to ask what had happened. She had fainted again.

She sat up and Remus came into view holding a chocolate frog. He handed it to her and she ate it.

"You alright, Harri?" he asked extremely concerned.

"It's getting worse. I hate hearing Voldemort killing my mom over and over again. It's depressing," Harri replied, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Harri, if you don't want to continue, I'll understand," he told her and she sent him a glared that reminded him of her father when he was given an impossible challenge.

"No, I have to do this! I can't let my quidditch team down! If the dementors come back, and I fall off my broom again, we'll lose our chance of winning the cup," she replied getting off the floor and back into position to fight the dementor.

"You might want to select another memory, a happy memory, I mean, to concentrate on. That one didn't seem to have been strong enough…" Remus instructed gently.

Harri nodded and tried to think of another memory that might be sufficient enough for this charm. She thought of one memory in particular, it was a night a few years prior to Hogwarts, Sirius had come back from a particularly dangerous mission. He had come home safe and sound, but Harri was still beyond elated to see him alive and well.

"Ready?" he questioned and she nodded, she was determined to get this. He pulled the lid off the trunk again. The dementor came out, gliding towards Harri, a rotted hand reaching out towards her.

"Expecto patronum!" Harri shouted. "Expecto patronum! Expecto Pat —"

White fog obscured his senses. Big, blurred shapes were moving around her. Then came a new voice, a man's voice, shouting, panicking…

_"Lily, take Harriet and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off —"_

The sounds of someone stumbling from a room, a door bursting open, a cackle of high pitched laughter, the panic of someone running up the stairs, a door flying open…and the sound of a lifeless body hitting the floor filled Harri's mind. It was like a nightmare playing continuously through her mind.

Harri woke with a start and sat up quickly. She took in shaky breaths, holding a hand over her heart. Remus quickly sat down next to her, looking panicked, she must of looked worse than she felt. "Harri, what happened?"

"I heard dad…he told mum to take me and run for it…he gave us time to escape. He sounded really brave, taking on Voldemort by himself," Harri answered as tears started to trickle down her face. She quickly wiped them away, hoping Remus wouldn't see, but he did. Remus hugged her tightly.

"Maybe we should call it quits for tonight…" Remus suggested, but Harri shook her head in protest. She stood back up and signaled for him to do it again.

She thought of a more recent memory, something that brought a smile to her face every time she thought of it. She thought of her and George a few weeks prior in Hogsmeade throwing snow at each other for hours.

Remus opened the trunk for the last time. The dementor came out, reaching towards Harri again, but this time when she shouted the incantation, the screaming inside her head sounded as though it were coming from a badly tuned radio. Softer and louder and softer again… and she could still see the Dementor… it had halted… and then a huge, silver shadow came bursting out of the end of Harri's wand, to hover between her and the Dementor, and though her legs felt like water, she was still on her feet. Though, for how much longer, she wasn't sure…

That was when Remus shouted "Riddikulus!" and the boggart turned into a full moon, which he banished back into the trunk.

"Excellent, Harri! That was very impressive magic from a third year!" he told her ruffling her hair and pulling out a bar of Honeyduke's best chocolate.

Harri bit into it and felt a little bit better. "So, some adult wizards have problems with this charm?" Harri commented with a mischievous smirk.

Within the following weeks, Harri's life had become hectic and tiring. Oliver had them out practicing five days a week and she had her patronus charm practice every Thursday night. In short, Harri had one day to do all her homework and studying. Even though Harri only had one day to do her work, she found that she finished long before Hermione did. Her friend had been up later than her every night studying. The piles of books were nearly as tall as she was. Harri could tell that she was drowning in work.

Harri had a vague idea of how her friend was getting to all her classes, even though some of them were at the same time. She figured that Hermione was using a time-turner. It was the only explanation she could think of. After one nasty quidditch practice Harri found Hermione nearly in tears in their room, she had reached her breaking point.

"Hermione, what wrong?" Harri asked as she changed her clothes her hopped on the bed next to her friend.

"I can't do this! I'm going to lose my mind!" she cried out softly throwing her arms around her roommate and sobbing. Harri then noticed the Ancient Runes textbook next to her, along with four other books.

"How about I help you with your Ancient Runes and Transfigurations homework? I'm really good at it and it will be a good review for upcoming tests?" Harri asked and Hermione nodded. From that day on, whenever Hermione felt overwhelmed with school work she'd talk to Harri, who rarely panicked over anything work related.

The match against Ravenclaw was an easy win for Harri, who was more than happy to put Cho Chang in her place. The girl had been sending her glares since she went on that date with Cedric. The Gryffindor team flattened Ravenclaw, putting them in the running for the cup.

The animosity between Slytherin and Gryffindor was easy to see, since many students would attack each other on sight in the hallways. Alya had been in a rather vindictive mood. She kept mocking Harri's inability to stay conscious in the presence of a dementor and continually pretended to faint in hallways.

The day before the match Harri snapped. She had been walking with Hermione and Draco to Transfigurations when Alya came up to them. She was pretending to faint. The raven haired Gryffindor checked to see if there was anyone else in the hallway with them. When she saw that there wasn't anyone there, she stalked up to Alya, pulled her arm back and punched her nose, breaking it.

Alya hadn't bothered her since. Even Hermione approved of her punching the Slytherin in the face. Draco was in an especially good mood after his cousin was punched in the face and told Harri she should have done it sooner.

Much to the relief of the school, the match had finally arrived. The only concern Harri had before the match started was that Alya wasn't there with her team, which meant that she was up to something. She wouldn't miss the match of the year.

Before she could contemplate further, they were all in the air with Lee's commentary just starting up. "And it's Gryffindor in possession, Alicia Spinner of Gryffindor with the quaffle, heading straight for the Slytherin goal posts, looking good, Alicia! Argh, no, quaffle intercepted by Warrington, Warrington of Slytherin tearing up the field! WHAM! Nice bludger work there by George Weasley, Warrington drops the Quaffle, it's caught by Johnson, Gryffindor back in possession, come on, Angelina! Nice swerve around Montague! Duck, Angelina, that's a bludger! SHE SCORES! TEN-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!"

That was the point when Slytherin started using dirty tricks. Angelina punched the air as she soared around the end of the field.

Angelina was nearly thrown from her broom as Marcus Flint went smashing into her.

"Sorry!" said Flint as the crowd below booed. "Sorry, didn't see her!"

Fred threw his beater's bat at Flint's head, causing him to smash his face into his broom, making his nose bleed. He sent a wink towards Angelina, who blushed bright red.

The match continued in that manner. The Slytherin team managed to give Gryffindor team the lead they needed by cheating. By the time they had finished with their cheap tricks they were ahead by sixty points and Harri had spotted the snitch near the ground! The Slytherin seeker didn't stand a chance racing a Firebolt. As soon as she held up the little golden ball the crowd erupted in cheers. This was the happiest she had ever been. The entire team raced towards her, Oliver was in tears, screaming themselves hoarse that they'd won.

That was where things went wrong, the air became chilly quickly and the stands became quiet, there were hundreds of dementors flying towards them. Harri saw Alya leaning against the stands with a smirk on her face. She saw her mouth, _"Told them you're hiding Pettigrew." _She walked away cackling like a madwoman. Didn't Alya realize that they were giving the kiss to anyone who got in their way?

'Of course she did…' Harri thought darkly.

Harri's eyes narrowed and she pulled out her wand, she wasn't going to let Alya or the dementors rule her life. She thought of all of her happiest memories, the ones with her family and friends and even winning the quidditch match. She was going to cast the perfect patronus and protect everyone. "Expecto patronum!"

A bright silver animal came galloping out of her wand and towards the dementors. It lowered its head and rammed them out of the stadium, away from all the students. As it came back Harri realized what animal it was. It was a silver stag.

"Dad," she whispered was the stag lowered its head and tapped its nose with hers before it disappeared. He was still protecting her, even after he died. Remus looked shocked and Snuffle's had his mouth wide open in surprise.

It wasn't long before exams started and everyone was neck deep in work, even the twins were studying. The exams themselves were simple enough for Harri, she breezed through Transfigurations, Ancient Runes, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Potions, much to Snape's displeasure. She almost fainted from heat exhaustion in Herbology, almost giving Madam Pomfrey a heart attack. The Care of Magical Creatures and the Arithmancy were dull, but she didn't have any major problems with the tests. She dozed off during both her Astronomy and History of Magic exam, but in her defense, Astronomy was in the middle of the night.

Hermione had nearly drowned in her books and decided to drop a few classes. She was no longer taking Divination and Muggle Studies, making her schedule match Harri's. "That's great. Now you, Wendi and I all share the same classes!" Harri said excitedly as the three girls were packing their trunks for the year.

"Ah, Hermione, Viktor sent me this to give to you!" Wendi shouted as she rummaged through her trunk. She pulled out a small envelope. Hermione blushed after reading it and a piece of paper fell out.

Harri gasped when she saw what was on the paper. It was a ticket to the Quidditch World Cup! "Are you and Viktor dating, Hermione?" Harri asked with a raised eyebrow. The two of them had been talking for over two years and Harri was beginning to wonder what kind of relationship she had with him.

"No, I don't think so…maybe? We don't see each other enough to know!" She answered frantically. Obviously, she hadn't thought much on the idea.

"He likes you, Hermione. He doesn't stop talking about you during the summer," Wendi complained and all three of them laughed. During the year Hermione had found that she could tolerate Wendi. She still wasn't sure if was going to replace her, but she'd give the witch a chance.

It was that same day when a secret that should have never been told was circulating around the student body. The entire school knew that Remus was a werewolf. As soon as Harri heard, she grabbed Snuffles by his collar and dragged him into Remus' office. He looked sad as he packed his bags. Snuffles changed into Sirius as soon as the office door shut behind him.

Harri knew he loved teaching and enjoyed his job this year immensely. She wanted to strangle who ever told the students about his condition.

"Who was it, Mooney?" Sirius asked with his arms crossed. He had a malicious glint in his eyes. He was going to make whoever did this pay in the most painful of ways.

"Snape might have told his entire house about it before breakfast yesterday morning. I've already gotten two howlers telling me to leave," He replied as he shut the lid to his trunk.

"You're the best teacher we've ever had! Can't you just ignore all the idiots and teach anyway?" Harri asked with a pleading tone in her voice.

"You know I can't do that Harri. I'll see you two at home," he told them as he left the room, leaving his best friend and niece to watch him go.

Even though there was only two hours before the train left, Snape was pranked exactly twenty six and a half times. Sirius and the Weasley twins had gotten their revenge, while Harri and Draco, who was angry with his godfather, watched from the sidelines with smiles on their faces.

The minister had called off the dementors after they tried to attack the students at the quidditch final. Peter had been spotted in another part of the country, much to the annoyance of the Auror department. Harri was relieved that she wasn't going to need another year of her godfather watching her every move at school. She just hoped that her next year at Hogwarts wouldn't be as eventful as this one.

**Year three is done! (Finally) Sorry if it seemed rushed, but there wasn't much for me to write with no prisoner. It also seems that Peter is smarter than he looks since he ran straight to old Moldy-butt instead of going after Harriet. No one has gotten any of the guesses right for the fourth book! =( Someone gave me a guess that Alya would be in the Tri-Wizard Tournament and I chuckled. I had the mental image of Alya getting eaten by a dragon...**

**Hela: I apologize for the lack of Luna in the book, but this book was a quick summary! She will be back in the next book! There will be more of everyone in the next book and a lot more romance! **

**So, I'll give you a few more hints:**

**1. Harri and Fleur are going to be friends in the next book because of this!**

**2. Okay, go to chapter 27 and Remus mentions something that Sirius brushes off as nothing and then I mention it throughout the next few chapters with Harriet's thoughts and comments. **

**3. This revelation will nearly give Sirius a heart attack.**

**To voting! The voting for this is closed! Muggle-born won, 35 to 8 and 3...**

**There is something that I want to ask you guys, I guess this is the new voting. Since I passed the halfway point with writing the series I want to know if you guys would mind a crossover section at the end of the books? I'd love to write some trips around the world where Harri and her friends meet a bunch of characters from different books/movies/cartoons (I'll have an official list in the next chapter if you guys want it)...I know that crossovers aren't everyone's favorite thing to read (since a lot can go wrong), but I figured I should ask before planning any. =) Personally, I love crossovers. It takes a lot of creativity to mash two worlds together.**

**So, please vote so I don't plan an entire ending that I can't even use! =P**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter!**


	31. Chapter 31

**Happy Friday everyone! Only three more chapters till I go away to college...well unless you don't make the review goal, than it will only be two. See you at the bottom! **

**Chapter 31**

**She's a what?**

The summer before Harri's fourth year was spent in lockdown in Grimmauld Place. The ministry didn't deem their apartment safe enough to protect her if Pettigrew came after them. So, they had to move into Sirius' family home, which was considered the safest place for them. Sirius had commented that they must have never lived in Grimmauld place or they'd know that it really wasn't all that safe. Dark objects were still in the house, even if they were just out of Harri and Draco's reach.

They had fixed up the majority of the house. The only room they were still trying to clean fully was the kitchen. There was one drawer that gave Harri a migraine and made her scar hurt whenever she looked at it. Whenever she got close to the drawer Kreacher would send her away from it.

During the very beginning of July two things happened to Harri. First she got her vision corrected and she didn't need her glasses to see anymore. Second, Harri and Draco were taken to Gringotts for their inheritance tests by Remus and Sirius. Harri had always found Gringotts interesting. She loved seeing the goblins…she liked their spunky attitude.

After Harri and Draco gave the goblins some of their blood the four of them sat in silence, until Harri decided to speak. "What do you think the tests are going to say?" Harri asked quietly, not really addressing anyone in particular.

"Probably nothing out of the ordinary… Most likely, just some natural magical skills you might have, maybe some bloodline magic, but there shouldn't be anything strange," Sirius replied. In all honestly, he wasn't sure. James had never gone for his inheritance test since his parents were too busy fighting Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

Draco got his results first. He didn't have anything too surprising besides natural Occlumency and Animagus skills. He even had a little bit of seer blood in him, much to his pleasure.

It was Harri's results that surprised everyone. She was a Parselmouth and had Occlumency and Animagus skills like Draco, but what really shocked everyone was fact that she was a quarter Veela.

As soon as Sirius heard the news he promptly fainted. Harri was staring at the piece of paper in shock and Draco was trying to wake Sirius up. Remus seemed to be the only person thinking rationally.

"That explains a lot," Remus commented with his arms crossed. This would explain why James had chased after Lily for seven years. She was his mate and he knew it before the bond officially kicked in.

He heard Sirius get up behind him. "What do you mean, 'this is explains a lot!' This is bad, Mooney, really bad! Harri can't have a mate!" Sirius shouted. He was not going to let her have anything to do with a boy! "She's going to a nunnery!"

"She's only a quarter Veela. Most likely she'll look extremely beautiful as she grows up and have a mate that she'll find eventually. It isn't like she's a full blooded Veela that needs her mate to survive past her seventeenth birthday, she'll just be stronger with him around. You're overacting, Padfoot," Remus told his friend calmly. Harri seemed to relax a little bit. Obviously, she was worried about needing another person to survive. Sirius was standing next to him, his mouth gaping like a fish.

"So, I'm guessing my dad was half Veela then?" she asked, finally coming out of her shocked state.

"I'd assume so. He did chase after your mum for seven years, no matter how many times she rejected him," he answered and Harri nodded mutely.

"How will I know who my mate is anyway?" she questioned curiously. It wasn't like she was going to go and look for her mate. She just wanted to know if she's ever met him.

"You'd be unconsciously drawn to him and he'd be drawn to you. It'll be easier for you to tell once your sixteenth birthday rolls around. The other way to tell would be a kiss, but that might just kill Sirius, so I wouldn't suggest it," Remus answered with a mischievous glint in his eyes and Harri laughed at her godfather's horrified face.

"Mooney, did you just tell her to kiss a boy? Whose side are you on?" Sirius questioned his best friend.

"Hey, I'm just the cool uncle. You're the crazy overprotective parent," Remus answered with a wolfish grin. Harri and Draco laughed at their antics. She loved it when her family was like this…weird as can be, but happy all the same.

Harri became isolated after the inheritance test. She had been thinking of anyone she was drawn to and came up empty. She wished that Hermione was around to talk to, but she's off in Bulgaria with Viktor this summer. Wendi had been sending her letters about how nauseating they are together.

Harri stayed in her room and studied most of the time and didn't talk much during meals. Remus and Sirius had started to worry about her and decided that she needed some friends around, that weren't Draco. Within the next few days Luna and Wendi arrived at Grimmauld place. Sadly, the twins were under lockdown back home and Molly Weasley wasn't letting them out of the house for the rest of the summer.

It didn't take long for Luna and Wendi to drag Harri away from her books. Before the two adults knew it the house was filled with laughter and yelling. Draco came down about an hour later covered in glitter and sequence.

"You two hate me, don't you?" he deadpanned, causing both Marauders to burst out laughing.

It was later that evening when Luna and Wendi noticed that something was wrong with Harri. She was much quieter than normal and wasn't giving her opinion on anything.

"Harri, is something wrong? Did the nargles get your tongue?" Luna asked, concerned for her friend.

"You know you can tell us anything, right?" Wendi said as she grabbed Harri's hands and gave them a quick squeeze to show support.

"Yea, it's just I was told some interesting news a few weeks ago. You see, I went for my inheritance test and found out that I was a quarter Veela…" she explained quietly and both girls shared equally shocked looks.

"You realize that being a Veela isn't a bad thing. Harri, you're going to be beautiful! I mean, you're already really pretty, but you know what I mean," Wendi stammered trying to find the right words.

Wendi knew that Harri was never cared about outer beauty. She only cared about the inner beauty of people, so she knew that wasn't the right thing to say. Luna looked thoughtful for a few moments, just staring at Harri. It was like Luna was peering into her soul.

"You're worried about your mate, right? Well, Ms. Harriet Potter, you shouldn't need to worry about that. You'll find him at the right time. Veelas are supposed to have great relationships with their mates anyway. I don't see what the problem is. It isn't like you'll die without him," Luna said with a dreamy smile. Her eyes seemed to be a million miles away, like they were looking at something else besides the room they were in. Maybe Luna was a seer.

Harri smiled warmly at Luna, who smiled back. It was rare for Luna to come out of her shell and talk normally with people her own age. It just showed how much Luna trusted them.

"Speaking of mates, how are Viktor and Hermione?" Harri asked Wendi, who turned green at the comment.

"Ugh, don't even get me started. They're so lovey dovey…it's gross. I've never seen my cousin act so sweet," she answered as she shivered at the memory of the two teenagers.

Harri laughed at her friend's explanation. Personally, Harri was happy for Hermione, she deserved to have a happy relationship.

"I never thought that Hermione would date a Quidditch player," Luna said offhandedly.

"She surprised us all," Harri replied, shrugging her shoulders. "So, are you guys going to the Quidditch World Cup with me and Draco?"

Days passed with nothing in particular happening, until Harri had a very unsettling nightmare with Voldemort, Pettigrew and a snake called Nagini playing the lead roles. As soon as the nightmare was over, her scar giving her a blinding migraine, and she found herself running to the bathroom across the hall to vomit. She had just watched a man die. She knew that what she just saw wasn't a dream. She had been in the room with them.

"Bambi, is everything alright?" a half asleep Sirius asked as leaning against the bathroom door. His hair was a mess, sticking up at every angle and he was just in a loose nightshirt and a pair sweats. As soon as he saw her leaning over the toilet he ran over to her.

Harri wiped her mouth off with a bit of toilet paper and grimaced. "I had a rather realistic dream of Voldemort and Pettigrew killing a man. Did you know that he has a giant snake named Nagini? I think that snake might be one of his horcruxes. He took the time to name it after all," Harri answered as she got off the floor.

She went to sink and rinsed her mouth out a few times before leaning against the counter, waiting for her godfather to say something.

"I'm starting your Occlumency lessons tomorrow. I don't know how he keeps getting in your head or how you know that the snake is a horcrux, but I'm going to try and make the dreams stop," he told her soothingly and she hugged him.

"Thanks, Sirius, you're the best parent I could ask for, you know that right?" Harri told him, her green eyes twinkling.

Sirius smiled at his goddaughter. He ruffled her hair since it wasn't in a braid. This caused her frown. It was going to take her forever to get her hair to do what she wanted in the morning. "I know, now, off to bed with you. You're going to have a big day of lessons tomorrow! Ugh, I sound like a teacher…" Sirius said with distain. Harri laughed at her godfather's face before she went back to her room and dozed on an off for the rest of the night.

The next morning came quickly and Harri started her lessons without complaint. She found herself in the Black Family Library after lunch with Remus and Sirius. The library was huge. It was at least two stories tall and filled to the brim with books. She was sitting at a large table with Remus on the opposite side explaining what Occlumency is used for. Wendi and Luna decided to watch the lesson, since they had nothing better to do besides school work.

"Alright, Harri, clear your mind and think of someplace safe, a place that no one can destroy. The key to Occlumency is to protect your mind from invaders," Remus explained, while Sirius was pulling books out about Occlumency for Harri to read.

"So, all I have to do is think of a place to hide my memories? A place that no one knows better than me?" she asked raising her eyebrow. Remus nodded and Harri smiled. She knew the perfect place.

"Alright, I'll try to attack your mind on the count of three. One-Two-Three- Legilimens!" Remus shouted and Harri felt him enter her mind.

As soon as Remus entered her mind he noticed that he was inside Potter Manor. Obviously, she decided that this was her safe place, but didn't she realize that he knew his way around. He could feel Harri internally smirk at his confidence.

Remus slowly walked down the narrow hallway, his feet echoing loudly on the marble floor. He walked to the first door, it was locked. He quickly used his wand to open the door and rolled his eyes. Harri was going to need practice if it was this easy to find her memories.

As soon as he opened the door he saw a chest lying on the floor, he figured that was where the memory was being kept. He then heard a feral growl. He looked down and saw an angry wolf approaching him.

Remus quickly closed the door, not wanting to be attacked by the animal. He found that whenever he opened a door either the wolf, a dog, a stag, or a doe would attack him. The only surprise was when Remus entered Harri's personal room in Potter Manor. It was guarded by a fox, he had no idea who that symbolized… He quickly closed the door and left her mind.

Harri and Remus opened their eyes right after he left her mind, both were panting slightly, their magic drained.

"Very good, Harri. It was really clever using Potter Manor as your safe place and have all of us guard it. I just have to ask, who was the fox?" Remus praised his honorary niece happily.

"Fox? I don't remember thinking of a fox," Harri replied confused, her head tilted slightly to the side. She hadn't been thinking of a fox when she thought of her safe place…

"It was probably her mate. Her mind unconsciously reaches out to him, so he was bound to show up in her mind," Luna told the group. She was looking at them like it was the most obvious answer in the world.

The lessons continued and were only stopped on Harri's birthday. They were all in the sitting room, which was furnished with a two couches and a loveseat that Harri loved to curl up on and read. The group was discussing the Quidditch world cup when the Weasley twins fell from the fireplace and landed on the hard tile. Both of them had their trunks with them. It seemed that they weren't just coming to visit.

Remus and Sirius just stared at them confused. They thought the twins were under lockdown back home. Luna and Draco were trying not to laugh, while Wendi looked concerned. Harri had gotten off the loveseat and gone over to help them.

"Is your grounding over?" Harri asked, standing over them as they groaned and sat up. George got off his brother shook his head.

"Hardly, our dad broke us out of our rooms and told us to leave and enjoy the rest of the summer. Our mum's gone nuts. She wasn't happy with our O.W.L. results. She wants us to work in the Ministry like Percy and our dad. She doesn't realize that we don't want to work in the stuffy ministry…can you picture us doing desk work?" he explained and Harri laughed a little towards the end.

"I can see you two blowing up a desk, but I can't see you working in one. I thought you two wanted to open your own joke shop," Harri said helping George off the floor. There was an odd sensation when she grabbed his hand and pulled him up, but she ignored it and helped Fred off the floor. She figured that it had to be some residue floo power or something…

"Yea, we do, but our mum thinks it's a waste of time," Fred complained as he flopped down on the couch nearest him.

"Sirius, do you think we should block the Weasley house form our floo network? I know you and Molly don't see eye to eye on certain things…"Remus said carefully, glancing at Harri who was avoiding eye contact with her godfather.

"Yea, you're right, Mooney," Sirius replied quickly and muttered an incantation at the fireplace, it lit up purple for a moment before fizzling out.

Soon enough everything had gone back to normal. The twins dropped their stuff off in their room and Fred started talking to Sirius about pranks. Remus was talking with Luna, Draco and Wendi over something they'd all seen on the news. Harri was quietly reading her father's Transfiguration book in the corner of the sitting room and George was staring at her over a quidditch magazine he was pretending to read.

Harri had grown up in the past few months. She wasn't wearing glasses anymore, which made her green eyes more prominent. She had more of a figure and was maturing into a young witch. To George, she was perfect.

Slowly everyone started to trickle out of the sitting room till it was only Harri and George. Fred and managed to clear the room. He gave his brother a thumbs up before leaving, much to his brother's embarrassment.

As soon as the last person left the room Harri's head shot up, realizing that everyone had left. Well, except for George.

"Everyone left us, George, I wonder what that was about," she said talking more to herself than her red headed friend.

"Yea, it's strange. So, did anything happen this summer?" he asked and Harri looked down almost dejectedly. Obviously that was the wrong thing to say.

"Yea, something did happen. Apparently, Voldemort and I have more of a connection than we thought and he's been invading my mind through my dreams," Harri replied and George flinched. He didn't mean to bring up a touchy topic, but Harri wasn't done talking. "I also went for my inheritance test."

"Find anything interesting?" he questioned, dreading the answer he was going to get.

"I'm a quarter Veela," she whispered. George blinked a few times shocked. Was that why he had a crush on her, because she was a Veela?

"Any idea on who your mate is?" he asked hoarsely.

"No, I'm not going to worry about it. I won't know until I'm sixteen or I kiss the right bloke…" she answered warily. George blushed at the thought, Harri didn't noticed and went back to reading.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Fred came back in looking between his brother and Harri. George shook his head and Fred sighed. He was wondering if his brother would ever make his move.

"Sirius was just telling me that you guys were going to the Quidditch final too," Fred said, tearing Harri away from her book. The younger girl's eyes lit up at the mention of Quidditch.

"Even Hermione's going to be there!" Harri told them excitedly. That was when the twins realized that she wasn't here with them.

"Speaking of Hermione, where is she?" George asked. Hermione was always with Harri.

"She's probably snogging my cousin!" Wendi shouted from the kitchen. Everyone got a good laugh out of that and the discussion of magical inheritance and mates were forgotten for the time being.

**The next chapter is going to be the Quidditch World Cup! I'm so pumped for this book! George is so shy when it comes to Harriet. I really liked the chapter, mostly because the horcruxes are being identified already and Harri has her lucky basilisk fang (courtesy of Philip)! Now, there were some questions that I need to address. **

**I never did tell anyone why Snape hates Lockhart, well when Snape was 15 he was going to try and ask Lily out for the first (and only time). He was shoved out of the way by Lockhart, who had a charms question for Lily. Snape hexed him and Lily didn't talk to him for a week and by that time he had ruined his friendship with her and lost his only chance at true love...**

**Okay! I'm so glad that some of you guys guessed correctly about the Veela thing! I gave you a bunch of hints, but some of you didn't really make the connection with Fleur, but that's okay! **

**Thank you all so much for your reviews! The goal this week is 510!**

**The yeses have it and there will be a crossover, but I'm not going to start it now and it isn't what you think it's going to be. Basically during the 19 year interim after Hogwarts I'm going to be doing a montage of Harri hunting down Death Eaters. She just happens to cross the paths of people from other shows/books/movies/comics. **

**Like let's say she's in America and stops at a local coffee shop and bumps into a group of teens dressed in black (Looking better in black than the widows of their enemies since 1234. If you get the quote I will virtual hug you!) Or, she was giving a lecture of Salem Academy (American Wizarding School that I just made up) and gets called in by the American government to help subdue a magical threat and meets some SHIELD agents. She could also be running through London and bumps into an odd man wearing a bowtie...(bowties are cool!)**

**And I'm only doing things that take place on the planet Earth and are relatively normal. I won't be doing anything that takes place hundreds of years into the past or future. So, basically all anime/manga is out.**

**My idea of crossovers aren't really crossovers...well they kind of are, but they won't deviate from the storyline at all. It's just Harri bumping into people as her life goes on. XD I think you guys thought I was going to chuck this story into another dimension or something! **

**So 'crossovers' are probably going to be: **

**Avengers (Because it's possible...if they have lightning gods falling from the sky they can have wizards roaming the world)**

**Young Justice (a personal favorite fandom of mine)**

**Mortal Instruments (Read the first books five years ago when everyone said it was weird)**

**Doctor Who (Because he can meet just about anyone and it would work)**

**There's one more but I can't remember the name of the series...**

**Anyway, I'm not going to mess up the story. These aren't going to happen for a very long time anyway and on top of that they're all in modern times. Two are located right in New York, one in in Massachusetts, and the Doctor can be anywhere he wants at any time he wants.**

**A lot of the time Harri will just end up in a conversation with one of them as she enjoying her time hunting down Death Eaters. Mostly it will be references to other characters in other fandoms.**

**So you guys can vote on crossover choices you want and ones you don't want. Put some suggestions in (just nothing too crazy). If you really don't want a crossover or want me to write a piece of the crossover if you aren't sure, send me a PM or review(just make sure that it's signed so I can send you a reply!) **

**(There may be some spoilers for those who want me to write a piece of a crossover, you have been warned!)**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter!**


	32. Chapter 32

**This was a long chapter! I have a busy week ahead of me! See you at the bottom! =D**

**Chapter 32**

**Quidditch Scores and Misses**

The next few weeks passed eventfully for the inhabitance of Grimmauld Place. The twins had been inventing things in their room with the help of Remus and Sirius, causing a medley of explosions. Harri was sure that Mrs. Weasley would kill the last two remaining Marauders when she got a hold of them for hiding her sons. They already received more than one howler from her. She wanted the twins back home so they could finish the remainder of their punishment and to stop filling their heads with idea that their joke shop products would be successful. Harri hated that Mrs. Weasley didn't believe in the twins' dream of owning their own joke shop.

Besides joking around and helping create prank products, Harri was practicing her Occlumency. Her lessons had been progressing well, she hadn't had any more disturbing nightmares.

Harri and George had been spending more time together. She was glad that he wasn't as awkward around her as he was the previous year, but whenever they would talk about her inheritance test he wouldn't look her in the eyes. She figured that she would have to talk to him about this eventually, but she was going to leave him alone to brood on it for now. Starting another argument before school started was not her idea of a fun vacation. Especially since the Quidditch World Cup was the next day.

It was five in the morning when Harri felt something on top of her in her room. She opened her eyes and noticed familiar blue eyes hovering a few inches above her, glittering mischievously.

"George, do you know what time it is?" she groaned trying to push him off of her, but he did even budge.

"Well, Ms. Potter, I'd say it's time to get up! Otherwise we'll miss our portkey for the World Cup!" he told her sternly shaking her shoulders trying to wake her up faster. What he didn't realize was that he was only making her angry. She grabbed a pillow from behind her head and smacked George over the head with it, sending him crashing down onto the floor.

Harri blinked a few times, realizing that she might have just hurt one of her best friends. She sat up and looked over the side of her bed. She saw George staring at her in shock, his face flushed slightly.

"Are you okay?" she asked getting out of bed and running over to him. She was in her nightclothes, which consisted of shorts and a tank top.

"Yea, you would have made a bloody good beater if Fred and I hadn't already had those positions," he commented shaking his head as he picked up the pillow he was hit with.

"Sirius told me the same thing a few years ago," she said grinning. She held out a hand for him to take, which he accepted. As soon as their skin made contact with each other there was a sudden jolt that went through Harri. She let go quickly and noticed that George had the same bewildered expression on his face that she had.

"You felt that too?" he asked curiously and she nodded weakly. She wasn't sure what those little jolts meant. Harri turned away from him and went towards her book shelf to look for something. She was going to take a book with her on magical ailments and see if magic can act up due to skin contact.

"Yea, I'm not sure what it means. I'm going to read more on it later…" Harri replied before turning towards George with her book in hand. She noticed that he was looking at all the books on Veelas lying around.

"So, you're reading up on your heritage?" he questioned amusedly. She sent him a glare that would send a normal person running, but he didn't even flinch.

She sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Of course I'm reading about my heritage. You would too if you had a mate out there somewhere. There's a good chance that I won't even know the guy…and from what I've read, if he rejects me, my magic might not function properly. How am I supposed to survive like that?" she asked quietly, tears starting to pool in her eyes.

George hesitantly made his way over to Harri. He wasn't exactly sure what to do, so he sat down next to her, pulled her into his lap and he hugged her, resting his chin on her head. "Your mate won't reject you. Anyone who gets your unconditional love is the luckiest man alive. You should really stop worry about it. From what I know about Veelas, they're drawn to their mates. You'll find yours in no time and he won't reject you," he told her as he poked her nose, causing her to go cross-eyed.

She blinked a few times and laughed for the first time in almost a week. Leave it to George to cheer her up. She craned her neck upwards and looked up into his clear blue eyes. There was an emotion showing in them that she didn't recognize. Something about the look he was giving her made her heart flutter and she noticed that his mouth was extremely close to hers. Almost as if it was an instinct, she leaned closer to him about to close the gap.

"George, is Harri up yet? We have to leave in forty minutes!" Both of them jumped apart, the trance broken, due to the sound of Sirius' yelling from the kitchen. The two of them were blushing a bright shade of red.

"I'm up Sirius, I'll be down in a minute!" she yelled back. She turned towards George and blushed once more. She ran a hand through her messy hair nervously. "I need to change, so you better leave…I'll see you downstairs."

George hightailed it out of the room and shut the door behind him. Harri couldn't believe that she almost did that! She had a mate to think about! She couldn't just kiss any guy that came close to her!

She mentally berated herself all the way to the World Cup. Hermione was going to meet up with them and Wendi was going to go and see her parents and cheer for her cousin.

Tonks had come with the group as well. She had just come back from a rather strenuous two month long mission in Spain and was given a few weeks off to recover. Sirius was more than happy to give her one of the six tickets he had for the World Cup. Tonks accepted his offer enthusiastically and when she saw Remus with them she tackled him to the ground and kissed him.

Sirius hit them both with an _Aguamenti_ charm, dousing them both in water. Tonk's hair turned a brilliantly angry shade of red and she chased Sirius down to the campsite they were staying at for the night.

When they reached the campsite Hermione was there waiting for them. She looked different from the previous year at school. Hermione had started to buy wizarding hair care products that helped straighten her hair and the young witch had started to wear more flattering clothes. As soon as Hermione spotted Harri and Draco she ran over to them and gave them a bone crushing hug. Luna and the twins stayed behind them, not wanting to get in the middle.

"Did you miss us, Hermione?" Draco asked jokingly.

"Yes, I did you prat! Viktor's family was nice and all, but I missed staying with you and your crazy family. My summer just isn't the same without Sirius nearly setting the house on fire with his cooking!" She replied dramatically. The group laughed at Sirius' hurt face and mention of his horrible cooking skills.

When they were setting up the tent Harri noticed two young wizards approaching them. Both of them had red hair. She nudged George, who looked shocked to see his brothers coming up to him.

"Charlie, Bill, what are you two doing here?" He asked innocently and his brothers rolled their eyes. Harri smiled. She hadn't seen Charlie in a while and he looked a lot more like the twins than she had thought three years ago. He had a stockier build and had the smile freckled smile. The only difference with him was that his arm had a large burn on it. It seemed that one of the dragons he worked with had a little too much fun and burned him.

The other red head had to be Bill Weasley. Harri had never met him before and figured that since the twins looked up to him that he had to be cool. Bill's appearance didn't disappoint her expectations in the slightest.

He was tall, with long hair that he had tied back in a ponytail. He was wearing an earring with what looked like a fang dangling from it, which Harri thought was awesome. Bill's clothes would not have looked out of place at a rock concert, except that Harri recognized his boots to be made, not of leather, but of dragon hide.

"Mum wanted us to look for you…she's been going crazy since you left. She has no idea how you managed to escape," Charlie replied ruffling Fred's hair with a callused hand.

"Dad's the one that set us free! She wasn't even going to let us come to the World Cup! Honestly, it wasn't like we did anything criminal," George grumbled and Bill shook his head.

"Well, we're not going to tell her that we saw you. Are you going to introduce us to the kind people that let you in their home?" Bill asked the twins.

"This, brother dearest, is Sirius Black, Draco Black, Hermione Granger, Harriet Potter, Luna Lovegood, Remus Lupin and Tonks is here, but she's in the tent most likely breaking something," George told him as he pointed everyone out.

"Tonks is here?" Charlie asked excitedly.

"Yes, she's here with her boyfriend, Remus," Tonks replied as she walked out of the tent. She walked up to the second eldest Weasley and gave him a hug. "It's been awhile since I last saw you, Charlie. How are the dragons doing?"

"Good, some of them get to be a little feisty…" he said good naturedly. The two talked for a little while, just catching up. Eventually the eldest Weasleys had to leave and bid their farewell.

The twins sighed in relief after Bill and Charlie left. "Your brothers are cool, what happened to you two?" Draco asked teasingly. Both twins turned towards him and chased him into the tent. Harri rolled her eyes at her friends and followed them inside.

The tent consisted of four rooms. Three bedrooms, one for the girls, one for the twins and Draco and the last one for Remus and Sirius, the fourth room consisted of a small kitchenette and sitting room. It had a very homey feel to it. The Marauders used to go camping with this tent when they were still in Hogwarts. It would be used as home base during the full moon.

As the day wore on and day turned to dusk the amount of excitement from all the wizards in the area was nearly visible. The twins had decided to place a bet with Ludo Bagman on the outcome of the match. They both bet that Ireland would win, but Krum would catch the snitch.

When Harri thought about their guess, it made sense. The Ireland chasers were much better than the Bulgarian ones, but Viktor was a fantastic seeker and would probably catch it before the Irish one did.

Before Harri knew it she was being led to the top box with her friends to watch the match of the year. There were about three dozen seats in the top box, most of them were outstanding people in the Ministry, like Sirius who was the best Dark Wizard catcher after Mad-Eye-Moody retired. Another group of people came up and it turned out to be the rest of the Weasley family. Fred and George hid behind Remus and Sirius, hoping their mum wasn't with them. There was also a house-elf sitting in the seat next to Draco. She seemed skittish so Harri left her alone.

It was a few minutes later when the minister himself came up to sit with them when Harri got annoyed. The minister grabbed her godfather's hand and greeted him like an old friend, much to her displeasure. She couldn't stand that he kept trying to weasel his way into her life and suck up to her godfather.

"Ah, Lucius, come and finally join us, have you?" The minster asked looking over Sirius shoulder. Sirius' wand came out almost at once, just in case the elder Malfoy tried anything. Alya and Narcissa were standing behind him. Narcissa had a hand on Alya's shoulder, holding back from doing anything stupid.

Lucius was smarter than he looked and sat as far away from Sirius as possible. He obviously remembered the black eye he got from messing with him two years prior.

The box was deadly quiet as Lucius and Sirius glared at each other from across the box, that was, until Ludo Bagman crashed into the room.

"Ready to go Minister?" he asked Fudge and the he nodded in reply. Bagman casted a _sonorous_ charm on himself to make his voice louder. "Ladies and gentlemen… welcome! Welcome to the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!"

Loud cheers and screams could be heard from every corner of the stadium. The scoreboard was magically changed to read Bulgaria: 0 Ireland: 0.

"And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce… the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!" Ludo yelled enthusiastically and the Bulgarian side of the stadium cheered loudly.

"I wonder what the Bulgarians brought…ah, they brought Veela," Remus commented quietly as about a hundred veela came gliding onto the field. From what Harri read she knew that Veela were very good at putting men under spells because of their beauty. She just wondered what it would make her friends do. It didn't take long to get her answers. Harri watched in amusement when Luna grabbed Draco by the collar and forced him to sit down when he was entranced by them. Remus and Sirius avoided looking at them entirely, while George was forcing Fred to behave himself. Harri was surprised the George wasn't affected by the beautiful creatures.

"And now," roared Ludo Bagman, "kindly put your wands in the air… for the Irish National Team Mascots!"

Suddenly, what seemed to be a great green-and-gold comet came zooming into the stadium. It seemed the Irish weren't that original and had leprechauns as their mascot. They did one circuit of the stadium, then split into two smaller comets, each hurtling toward the goal posts. A rainbow arced suddenly across the field, connecting the two balls of light. The rainbow faded and the balls of light reunited and merged. They had formed a great shimmering shamrock, which rose up into the sky and began to soar over the stands.

The leprechauns dropped gold onto the stands, which people picked up. Harri rolled her eyes, didn't they know that leprechaun gold disappears shortly after it was conjured?

The match started quickly after that. The Irish gained an early lead in the match, but the Bulgarians did eventually score one goal. The seekers didn't seem to be doing much. Until, Viktor decided to lead the Irish seeker on and Harri watched in amusement when he used a feint to injure the opposing player. For an eighteen year old he was crafty.

"Brilliant feint, Viktor," Harri mumbled as she watched a mediwizards hurry onto the field to look over the other seeker.

"You know, you do the same thing during your matches," Luna told her dreamily as she watched the match.

Ireland started to gain a staggering lead of 100 points and Harri vaguely wondered if the Bulgarian keeper was asleep. That was when the match started to resemble her third year match against Slytherin…it got dirty. The Bulgarians started to attack the Irish chasers, which gave the Irish more penalty shots. Harri felt bad for the referee…It didn't really help that the mascots were fighting each other either…

It was only after Viktor got his nose broken did Harri realize that professional quidditch was never going to happen for her, no matter how much anyone begged for her to join. She might fly really well, but she didn't fancy getting beaten to a pulp, she got enough of that at school.

Even after his nose was brutally broken Viktor and the Irish seeker dove after the snitch. Viktor catching it and the other seeker smashed into the ground, again. Obviously the Irish needed a better seeker, but they still won 170 to 160. The twins had been right and won their bet.

After all the excitement it was good for Harri to just lay around in the tent and watch her family and friends make fools of themselves. Hermione was panicking over Viktor face, while the twins were dancing with their winnings in their hands, Tonks and Remus were curled up together on one of the couches flirting, Sirius was pretending not vomit at his best friend and cousin and Draco and Luna were debating the usefulness of the sponge.

Sometime during the craziness she dozed off, but she was rudely woken up by Sirius shaking her shoulder. "Harri, get up. We need to get out of here," he told her urgently. Harri quickly jumped out of bed. She noticed that there were no sounds of celebration from outside the tent, only screaming. She noticed that she hadn't changed out of her clothes before she got into bed and smiled. Sometimes her luck worked for her. She checked to make sure that her wand was in its holster on her wrist, it was gift from Tonks the previous year.

Harri shook Hermione and Luna awake and got them moving towards the main room of the tent. Draco and the twins were running out of their room and joined Harri and the girls.

"Come on, something is going on outside and we need to leave," Harri said as she left the tent, her friends were right behind her.

Harri looked to the side and saw hooded figures shooting off green colored spells. She hoped that it wasn't the killing curse.

Harri swore colorfully and tried not to let herself panic. "Death Eaters," she hissed, pulling her wand out.

Sirius was sprinting out of the tent with Remus and Tonks, their wands were all out and they looked ready for a fight. "Harri, go towards the woods and wait for me there. Remus, Tonks, and I are going to take care of things. Stick together and be careful!" Sirius shouted as he ran towards the oncoming Death Eaters.

Harri took one last look at the hooded figures and motioned for everyone to follow her towards the woods. "Wands out," she told them, years of living with Aurors preparing her for this kind of emergency.

"Wait, my wand's gone!" Draco shouted as he felt his back pocket for his wand, which wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Stay close to Luna and Hermione and hope no curses come your way!" Harri yelled back. It was the best advise she could give at the moment. They were wading through a crowd of stampeding people and crazy killers after all.

By the time that they got to trees the crowds were thinning, but the air of panic remained. Draco sighed in relief, realizing that he hadn't been hit with a stray curse without his wand. "Yes! We made it!" He said walking backwards, only to trip and fall over something.

"Aw, did little Draco not die? What a shame. You know you and your Mudblood would be next on their hit list," Alya said coming out of the trees.

Harri's wand was at the other girl's throat. "Say it again, Alya, I dare you," Harri challenged. It seemed that Alya was about to say something when a green light flashed from below, distracting Harri long enough for Alya to slip back into the trees.

"I'd watch out, Potter, you're asking for a painful death!" she shouted as she retreated.

"Bloody coward," she mumbled angrily. Harri and the group made their way along the tree line, trying to find a spot less crowded with panicked people. Eventually they did and sat down, that was, until Harri heard something move in the bushes behind her.

Harri signaled for everyone to be quiet and she tried to get a good look at the person, but before she could move, the person shouted a spell that got everyone on their feet.

_"MORSMORDRE!"_ The voice was loud and definitely male. Harri knew that spell, and it only signaled trouble for the year to come.

Something vast, green, and glittering erupted from the patch of darkness. It flew up over the treetops and into the sky. It was a colossal skull, comprised of what looked like emerald stars, with a serpent protruding from its mouth like a tongue.

"The dark mark…" Harri muttered watching in horror. Her scar hurt for a split second, but she calmed herself down, she wasn't going to panic… not until after Sirius got back.

Harri heard the cracking of wizards apperating and tackled her whole group of friends to the ground right as spells soared over their heads. "They're trying to kill us!" Fred shouted.

"No, they're trying to incapacitate us. They think we conjured the mark!" Harri yelled in reply.

"Hey, stop! That's my Goddaughter, you daft idiots!" Sirius shouted and everyone stopped firing spells immediately. He had Remus made their way over to the small group of teens and checked them over for injuries quickly.

"Are you guys alright?" Remus asked worriedly. Draco was about to say something when Crouch, a ministry official, came stomping over towards them.

"Which one of you did it? Which one of you summoned the dark mark?" he accused angrily. His eyes stopped at Draco and he almost smiled predatorily. "Ah, the Death Eater's son."

Draco looked down in shame and Crouch almost looked victorious. "The person who summoned it was behind those trees," Harri said seething with anger and pointing her finger to the forest.

"She's right! There's a house-elf with a wand lying on the ground! One of the stunners must have hit it!" Tonks yelled from beyond the tree line. She slowly came into sight with the small house-elf from the top box in tow.

"Hey, that's my wand!" Draco said horrified. "She must have found it after I dropped it!"

The altercation ended in the poor house-elf being freed, much to her dismay. Harri didn't think that the house-elf summoned the mark. For one, house-elves don't use wands and two, whoever summoned the mark was male and didn't have a squeaky voice.

The night ended with everyone going back to the tent completely exhausted. Sirius said that he was going to get Draco a wand holster when they got back home and then teach proper dueling habits before they all left for school. He didn't want Harri to be the only one prepared for a fight.

After everyone had gone to sleep Harri wandered into the sitting room and pulled out a book to read, she wasn't going to sleep after the day she'd had. She was in the middle of reading about magical ailments when she interrupted. "Couldn't sleep either?" a voice asked from the doorway. It was George, clad in only checkered flannel pants and a thin white t-shirt.

He made his way over to the couch she was sitting on and plopped down next to her. She relaxed slightly with him closer and sighed.

"No, not after a night like tonight. Voldemort's supporters are back on the rise and I'm too worried to sleep," she replied with a faint blush on her cheeks. She hated worrying about things that were out of her control.

"I can understand that. It feels like it did three years ago, right after we witnessed that man drinking the unicorn blood. After that we'd always be on the common room couches together, talking about our nightmares," George said reminiscing.

"No, it's not quite the same. I need to move first." Harri said with a chuckle and scooted closer to her friend. She laid her head down on his shoulder. "There, now it's like three years ago."

The two of them eventually dozed off in each other's arms and were only woken up by the light clicking of Fred's camera. Harri then proceeded to chase him around the tent till everyone woke up.

**Fun chapter! Lots of George and Harri fluff going on. I bet you all hated me for having them interrupted by Sirius! They won't be getting together for a few more chapters, hopefully they'll be together before I go to college because I'm going to have to change my updating schedule! I'm warning you now, but next week I'll have more details on what's going to happen. I will be continuing this story, I just won't be updating as often as I'd like. I hope you can all forgive me!**

**Alright, so I've decided to call off the crossover adventure at the end. After reading reviews on it I think too many readers were turned off to the idea of it, so I'll just write a crossover story when I'm done with this...which doesn't seem like it will ever end. XD**

**So, I have a new little contest. I want to see who you think I'm going to kill off by the time I'm done with this series. =3 There are two or three people that I doubt anyone would guess I'd kill off, so if you guess them, with a signed review, I'll PM you after this book is done and I'll give you a spot in my story as a minor character, if you want. I'll also say if someone guessed one, but I won't disclose it till it's happened, you know, for spoilers. If you give me more than one guess with correct answer as one of people I won't tell you who dies...you'll just have to wonder which one it is. =) So, if you don't want spoilers you can give me a list.**

**For the record, Sirius, Cedric and Fred WILL LIVE TILL THE END!**

**Okay, now, there were a few questions in the reviews so I'll answer them!**

**Hela: Harri and Fleur will kind of have this feeling of kinship, since both of them are a quarter Veela. I totally forgot about her sister, thanks for reminding me about her!**

**GinnyWeasley5: No worries, Hermione will get together with Cedric by the end of the series. Not everyone is guided by magic to their soul mate. Most people need to date a few people to find their other halves.**

**AND, I pity all the peope that have never heard of Young Justice, it's a cartoon based off of the Young Justice comic and haven't read the Mortal Instruments (The movie is coming out tomorrow!)**

**I'm done fangirling...see you all Friday!**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter.**


	33. Chapter 33

**Hi guys! One more update before I leave for college after this. I have more announcements at the bottom! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 33**

**How Does One Forgive the Unforgivable?**

The remainder of the summer was a blur for Harri. Sirius started to train her, the twins, Luna, and Draco in hand to hand combat, he also increased Harri's Occlumency studies. Harri didn't really mind fighting hand to hand, she had been a fairly good kick boxer before she went to Hogwarts. Draco got the worst of it since he had never actually tried to fight someone before. It didn't help that his only opponents where two beaters that were a year older than him and Harri, who had years of training under her belt. The poor boy was black and blue and beyond sore, but he was learning. Luna on the other hand never got hit. She always seemed to get out of the way right before someone hit her.

The train ride to school was uneventful because everyone was sleeping in the compartment till they reached Hogwarts. They were exhausted from all the training Sirius put them through. Harri and the twins wished that they were dealing with a Quidditch raving Oliver Wood than training from Sirius.

Of course, as soon as they all stepped out of the train they were drenched in rain. Any form of drowsiness was washed away and they were grumbling and awake. When they entered the castle any thoughts of drying off were crushed. Peeves decided that it would be fun to pelt students with water balloons, so all the students were sloshing their way to the Great Hall.

The older students walked into the hall soaking wet and hungry. She sat down with her fellow Gryffindors at the table, Draco and Luna going to the Ravenclaw table. Fred and George sat on both sides of Harri, Fred started to doze off and put his head on the table to rest. George on the other hand was looking alert.

Harri vaguely noticed that there wasn't a new teacher sitting with the other staff members. "No, new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Hermione mumbled confused, noticing the lack of a new teacher as well.

"Maybe no one was mad enough to take the job," Harri said ringing her braid out over Fred, who had fallen asleep on the table. He woke up right away and nearly attacked Harri. He was only stopped by the reprimanding look he got from his brother.

"You better watch yourself, Potter," he grumbled putting his head back on the table.

"I'll keep that in mind," she told him with a smirk. She poked his cheek trying to keep him awake and he swatted her hand away. George narrowed his eyes as he watched his brother nearly flirt with Harri. George was hoping that Fred wasn't her mate because that might just kill him.

It wasn't long till all the first years were sorted, one of them being Denis Creevey, Colin's younger brother. He seemed to be quite a fan of Harri, much to her annoyance.

One of the worst surprises during the feast was finding out that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup was cancelled. Every Quidditch player in the hall was rendered speechless, and not in the good way. Even the twins were too shocked for words, which was a first for them.

Dumbledore was about to say something else when the Great Hall doors opened with a thundering crash. All heads turned to a cloaked stranger standing in the entrance leaning on a staff.

He advanced towards the teacher's table with cumbering, off balance, steps. Each time he moved forward there was a defining clunk of wood. He pulled his hood down and Harri recognized him instantly. His face was marred with battle scars and he was missing a chunk of his nose. One of his eyes was replaced with a magical one that was following everyone around the room. This was Mad-Eye Moody, one of the best Dark Wizard Hunters to have ever lived. He had trained Sirius and her father in the Auror academy.

Mad-Eye went up to the teachers table and took his seat in the only empty chair. Harri smiled, she knew that she would be learning a lot in defense this year.

"Who is that?" Hermione asked frightened by the older wizard's appearance. Hermione could tell by the look on Harri's face that she knew who he was.

"That's Mad-Eye Moody. He was a dark wizard catcher, but he's retired now. He trained my dad and Sirius during their Auror academy days. Sirius really looks up to him, so he's bound to be a good defense teacher," Harri replied offhandedly. She figured that Dumbledore would give a proper introduction of their new teacher.

"Let me introduce you to your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Moody. He kindly came out of retirement to teach you all this year," he told the students. None of them clapped, they were all too frozen in terror of the new professor. Moody didn't even bat an eyelash and started eating, though he checked everything for poisons and only drank from his hip flask.

"Constant Vigilance…paranoid as ever, Moody," Harri commented with a smirk. She had heard all sorts of stories about him from Sirius.

"As I was saying," Dumbledore said, smiling at the sea of students before him, all of whom were still gazing transfixed at Mad-Eye Moody, "we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Tri-Wizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

"You're kidding!" Fred shouted, suddenly awake. He nearly knocked Harri off the bench next, causing her to crash into George with an audible squeak. The Great Hall erupted in laughter, all the tension from Mad-Eye's entrance gone in an instant.

"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley," he said, "Though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar."

Harri could almost hear McGonagall's eyes roll from where she was sitting in the hall. She cleared her throat and Dumbledore smiled sheepishly at her.

"Er - but maybe this is not the time… no…" Dumbledore mumbled, "Where was I? Ah yes, the Tri-wizard Tournament… well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely. The Tri-wizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities - until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued."

"Death toll?" Hermione gasped horrified. Harri shrugged, wizarding competitions always seemed to be dangerous, but she decided to listen to the headmaster anyway, she might as well learn something.

"The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Tri-wizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money."

"I'm going for it!" Fred shouted, his face lit with enthusiasm at the prospect of such glory and riches. He was still standing up and a few people in the hall snickered at his behavior.

"You're mad!" Harri hissed. "Now, sit down." Harri grabbed him by the shoulder and got him into the seat next to her. George decided not to say anything, he didn't want to anger Harri anymore than she already was.

"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Tri-wizard Cup to Hogwarts," he said, "the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age - that is to say, seventeen years or older - will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration."

"This," Dumbledore raised his voice slightly, for several people had made noises of outrage at these words, and the Weasley twins were suddenly looking furious - "is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion."

His light blue eyes twinkled as they flickered over Fred's and George's mutinous faces. "I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen."

Harri groaned, she knew that she was going to have to listen to the twins' plans at entering the tournament for the next few weeks.

"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!" Dumbledore said with a clap.

The twins were grumbling the entire way up to the common room. Hermione kept scolding them when they proposed different plans of entering.

"This isn't fair! We're turning seventeen in April! We're only a few months short!" George complained sitting next to Harri on the common room couch that was closest to the fire. The two of them were alone, the rest of the Gryffindor students had all gone to their rooms after their exciting night. Harri was reading a book on Veelas and how they find their mates and she was tired of getting interrupted by her redheaded friend.

"Look, fame and glory sucks and risking your neck in a competition isn't worth it! If you die you're not going to be able to open your joke shop!" she nearly shouted at him, her raven colored hair flashing red.

George sighed, he forgot that Harri was famous. She acted so down to earth all the time. "Sorry, it's just the prize money would really help with getting Fred and I off the ground…" he said quietly. Harri put her head on George's shoulder and cuddled up next to him. Her book temporarily forgotten.

"Why don't you just ask Sirius for a down payment. He loves your joke shop idea," she proposed with a tired smile.

"We don't want to ask your family for money, Harri. As much as we know that Sirius would love to help us, we just couldn't ask for money…" he told her, unconsciously wrapping one arm around her, the other reached for her book. "Now, which book are you reading?"

"Another one about Veela bonds and mates. It's the last one that was in the Black library. It's really informative. I just got to the chapter I needed, but I really don't feel like looking at the pages, read to me?" she asked with pleading eyes. "And don't tell me you can't read! I saw you study for your OWLs last year."

George shook his head in amusement, "Of course. Chapter 12: Finding a Mate…there are certain signs a Veela (or part Veela) will have when finding their mate. Usually, when the Veela and their mate are both sixteen and older, the want to be near each other becomes impossible to ignore. Even Veelas that aren't sixteen are drawn to their mate. There are many signs of the bond, the most common signs include an unconscious draw to the other person, a need to be around this person…" George paused when he read the last sign. He tried to close the book, but Harri put her hand on it.

"What is it? Why did you stop?" Harri mumbled opening her eyes and looking at the book.

"Um, the last sign is uncontrolled magic fluctuation…most commonly caused by skin contact. It's supposed to get more noticeable the older the Veela gets," he answered hesitantly.

Harri blinked a few times, realizing what he was referring to and knew why he sounded so nervous. That basically described what had been happening between the two of them all summer long. She decided that she was going to test that theory.

Harri pulled George's arm, which was covered with a shirt, towards her and grabbed his hand. As soon as their skin connected there was a visible blue spark that passed between them.

"You know, there's only one way to know for sure…if I'm your mate, that is," George said quietly. His blue eyes looking anywhere, but the fourth year curled up next to him. Harri on the other hand was determined, yet nervous. George had been her best friend since her first day at Hogwarts. She was worried that they were going to ruin their relationship, but she couldn't deny that she had always been drawn to him.

"Yea, there is," Harri whispered. She turned herself towards George and pulled his chin towards her. She brought her face towards his and stopped, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

He let out a ragged breath. "Yes," he told her right as he closed the gap between them. Their lips connected in a tentative, gentle, and chaste kiss. They felt a trail of magical sparks travel between the two of them before they broke apart. They rested their foreheads against each other's.

"What was that?" George asked slightly dazed. Harri smiled and gave him a light kiss on the nose.

"That was my magic accepting you as my mate," she explained, her green eyes almost glowing with happiness. George was about to lean in and kiss her again when Harri put her finger to his lips. "Sorry, no more kissing tonight, love. We have classes in the morning."

The read head pouted at the lack of lip contact, but didn't try to push his luck. "Harri, is there anything else I should know about this bond?" George asked sitting back slightly.

"Nothing that comes to mind. There isn't a lot of information on quarter blooded Veela bonds. The bad effects come with the full blooded Veelas. I'll give you some books if you want," she said with a teasing tone.

George wrinkled his nose at the thought of reading books for fun. "No thanks," he replied with a slightly disgusted face.

Harri got up off the couch and made her way towards the girl's staircase. "See you in the morning," she told him with an innocent expression on her face that reminded George, that despite how mature she is, Harri is still only fourteen and he was going to have to take things slow with her.

The first few days of classes passed eventfully. Potions class was as morbid as ever. Neville, as per usual, was making a mess of his potion due to his fear of Snape. He managed to melt his sixth cauldron. At the end of class Snape pulled Harri aside. He looked like he was chewing on glass when he started to speak with her.

"Ms. Potter, your potion scores are," he paused and gritted his teeth before continuing, "exceptionally high. It was brought to my attention that since you don't have Quidditch this year that you would have free nights to help Draco tutor students in potions. He said that he'd need an assistant to help the first and second years. He suggested you, so don't do anything to try my patience."

"Sure, I'd love to help younger students with potions. Just give me a day and time. I'll even bring extra textbooks that I've found useful. Thank you for giving me this opportunity, Professor. Even if Draco probably bullied you into it," Harri replied with a tentative smile before leaving. It was rare that Snape was civil with her. She was going to have to tell Sirius about this…

Something similar happened after transfigurations. Harri actually had the highest grade in her class in this particular subject, so it wasn't really a surprise when McGonagall pulled her aside to ask if she could spare some time to tutor some students. She was going to tutor some older students as well. What could she say? She was really good at transfigurations. McGonagall said that her father had the same talent for the subject that she did.

Thursday started out like any other day for Harri, but as the day went on she started to feel lightheaded. She pushed it to the back of her mind and when to DADA. It was the class she had been looking forward to all week. She walked into the Defense Against the Dark Arts room with Hermione, Wendi and Neville close behind. All of them wanted a good seat for their first class with Moody. The four of them sat in the front of the room, ready for the lesson.

Moody came into the room moments later, effectively silencing the entire room. He grumbled about how far behind they were in their use of practical skills and took out a clear box of spiders. Harri looked at the poor creatures trapped helplessly and felt bad for them. She wondered what Moody had planned.

"So, straight into the lesson. Curses. They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm supposed to teach you Countercurses and leave it at that. I'm not supposed to show you what illegal Dark curses look like until you're in the sixth year…" he began with an almost sick smile on his face. Harri nearly gasped at what she realized he was going to be showing them in class today.

"You're not supposed to be old enough to deal with it till then. But Professor Dumbledore's got a higher opinion of your nerves, he reckons you can cope, and I say, the sooner you know what you're up against, the better. How are you supposed to defend yourself against something you've never seen? A wizard who's about to put an illegal curse on you isn't going to tell you what he's about to do. He's not going to do it nice and polite to your face. You need to be prepared. You need to be alert and watchful. You need to put that away, Miss Brown, when I'm talking."

Lavender blushed and put away her things from Divinations. Obviously she didn't know that Mad-Eye's eye could see through solid wood.

"So… do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?" he asked, blue eye roaming around the room for hands.

Surprisingly Ron's hand tentatively rose in the air. "My dad told me about one, it was called the Imperius Curse…"

"Yes, your father would know about that one. It gave the ministry quite a problem after You-Know-Who rose to power. People claimed to be under its influence and there was no way to tell if they really were or weren't." Moody explained as he pulled a spider from the case. He pointed his wand at it and said an incantation, "Imperio!"

The spider then did a bad rendition of a tap dance. Harri felt sick watching the creature do things against its will, it wasn't natural. The class behind her was laughing at the spectacle.

"You think it's funny, do you? I could make it jump out of the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats…" He told the class and they were rendered silent once again.

"The Imperius Curse can be fought, and I'll be teaching you how, but it takes real strength of character, and not everyone's got it. Better avoid being hit with it if you can. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he roared and made the students jump. He put the spider back into the case.

"Does anyone know another curse?" he asked looking for hands. This time Neville's hand went up.

"There's one…the Cruciatus Curse," he answered weakly. Harri flinched. She heard about his parents. They were worse than dead, they were rendered insane by the Cruciatus curse…

Turning back to the class at large, he reached into the jar for the next spider and placed it upon the desktop, where it remained motionless, apparently too scared to move.

"The Cruciatus Curse," Moody explained. "Needs to be a bit bigger for you to get the idea," he said, pointing his wand at the spider. "Engorgio!"

The spider tried to run away, but it was pointless because before it ran three paces Moody had shouted the curse, "Crucio!"

The creature started to squirm in pain and Harri turned to look at Neville who looked faint. "Stop it!" Wendi shouted as she tried to comfort Neville, who had begun to hyperventilate.

"Pain," said Moody softly. "You don't need thumbscrews or knives to torture someone if you can perform the Cruciatus Curse… That one was very popular once too."

"Right… anyone know any others?"

Harri raised her hand this time. She knew the last curse all too well. That curse had ripped her parents away from her.

"Yes?" he prompted, looking at her with both eyes.

"The Avada Kedavra or the killing curse. Those hit by it are killed instantly. There is no way to block it and no way to counter it," Harri replied and the retired Auror nodded as he grabbed another spider.

"Yes, and the only person to ever survive that attack is sitting right in front of me. Avada Kedavra!" he shouted and the spider went limp and died. Many students gasped and others almost fell out of their chairs. Harri just sat there and looked down at her desk, pretending she was somewhere else. She couldn't stop picturing her parents dying, just like that spider. So full of life, but then a burst of green light hits them and they're dead? Was that really all it took to kill someone?

"Avada Kedavra's a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it, you could all get your wands out now and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt I'd get so much as a nosebleed. But I'm not here to teach you that. Now… those three curses - Avada Kedavra, Imperius, and Cruciatus - are known as the Unforgivable Curses. The use of any one of them on a fellow human being is enough to earn a life sentence in Azkaban. That's what you're up against. That's what I've got to teach you to fight. You need preparing. You need arming. But most of all, you need to practice constant, never-ceasing vigilance. Get out your quills… copy this down…"

They spent the rest of the lesson taking notes on each of the Unforgivable Curses. No one spoke until the bell rang, but when Moody had dismissed them and they had left the classroom, a torrent of talk burst forth. Most people were discussing the curses in awed voices.

Harri brushed past them all. She had become dizzy and nauseated from what he'd shown them and was trying to make her way to bathroom in case she was sick. She figured that if her hair could turn more than two colors it would be a sickly green at the moment.

She passed a side hallway and spotted Neville standing there, all alone and looking depressed. Harri took a deep breath and went up to him.

"You okay Neville?" Harri asked and he turned to her surprised.

"Yea, I should be asking you the same question. You turned nearly as green as the killing curse when he used it," he replied quietly.

"I'll be fine," she told him slightly breathless, it had suddenly become hard for her to breathe.

But an odd clunking noise sounded behind them, and they turned to see Professor Moody limping toward them. All four of them fell silent, watching him apprehensively, but when he spoke, it was in a much lower and gentler growl than they had yet heard.

"It's all right, sonny," he said to Neville. "Why don't you come up to my office? Come on… we can have a cup of tea…"

Neville looked even more frightened at the prospect of tea with Moody. He neither moved nor spoke. Moody turned his magical eye upon Harri.

"You alright, Potter?" Harri nodded and watched them go before going down the stair carefully.

Her heart felt like it was constricting and her vision began to swim. She heard someone call her name before she collapsed on the ground, clutching her chest in absolute agony. She figured that if she could breathe she'd be screaming in pain. Then everything faded to black.

**George and Harriet finally got together! I know that I said it would be a few chapters, but I reworked it since I wasn't going to be home and you all would have had to wait about a month for them to get together. I think you guys won out on this. ****So anyone wondering what caused Harriet to collapse like that? Anyway, the next chapter is going to be comical in the beginning, kind of. You'll learn what happened to Harriet! (take a guess if you want=) I feel really bad for Neville in this chapter. He deserves a loving family too!**

**Enough of my ranting, I just wanted to say thank you for all your reviews! They mean so much to me! Especially since one of my favorite authors was bullied off Fanfiction this week. It really makes me appreciate how great you guys are! So keep reviewing! There is no goal this week, (but I'd like you to reach 557) since I won't be updating next Friday or the week after, maybe... (don't kill me! I'm going to be adjusting to dorm life and new wifi and a roommate! .) I'll still be writing though! Then I'll start posting on Fridays again. I will be continuing this, don't think I'm leaving you! If you want to check on me and make sure I'm still writing PM me and I'll quell your worried mind. =) **

**Anyway, it has also come to my attention that this story isn't detailed enough for some readers liking. I want to formally apologize for that. I'll do my best from now on to put in a bit more detail into what I write. For anyone else that was thinking the same thing, I'm sorry. I'll try to write better! **

**Quite a few of you (4 to be exact, even though one was given as a joke) guessed the correct deaths. So, keep up the guesses! No one is really going to die till the fifth and book, but I figured that it'll be fun to have you guessing.**

**See you Tuesday!**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter.**


	34. Chapter 34

**Hi, everyone! I hope everything was formatted correctly when I switched this from a pages document to a word document! Yea, I'm switching from an HP to a Mac, so I'm getting used to things. =D See you at the bottom!**

**Chapter 34**

**And So It Begins**

Harri was floating in between a conscious and unconscious state. She could hear people talking around her, but she just didn't have the energy to wake up. She could distinctly make out the voices of Draco, Fred and Madam Pomfrey.

"What's going on with them? George passed out this morning and now Harri comes in half dead!" Fred shouted, concern lacing in his every word.

"From what I can tell, Harri and your brother are in the beginning stages of a Veela bond," Madam Pomfrey started to explained, but was interrupted by Draco.

"Wait, George is Harri's mate, so they kissed. That shouldn't have caused her to pass out. Trust me, Harri and I have read the possible effects of a quarter Veela bond and this isn't one of them," he said crossly. Harri internally smiled, he had been helping her learn her heritage all summer.

"This is a very rare side effect of a quarter bond. They weren't near each other all day and the bond didn't settle properly. Sometimes, depending on the strength of the magical core of the Veela, they will have the dangerous side effects of a Veela bond. Their magical cores are adjusting to Harri's Veela magic. She's still very young and as she gets closer to her full inheritance the powers she has will become more prominent. In this case, the two of them will need to be near each other till the bond settles. I'm surprised that Harri lasted as long as she did. George passed out early this morning and she made it to the end of her classes. It just proves how strong her core is," Madam Pomfrey told the two teens in a hushed voice.

"So, you're telling me that Harri and George have to be near each other till this bond settles? Isn't there usually a dominant and a submissive partner with Veelas? I keep asking George about it and he keeps brushing it off as nothing. Is Harri going to be leading the relationship?" Fred asked, laughing towards the end. Harri could almost picture the smirk on his face. Poor George, he wasn't going to have a moment's peace after this.

"Mr. Weasley, it is natural for the Veela to lead the relationship, but she hasn't come fully into her inheritance yet. Their cores are adjusting to this," Madam Pomfrey said in an irked tone.

Harri heard someone shuffling closer to her bed. "Do you have any idea when they're going to wake up?" Draco asked concerned. Harri could feel herself coming back to full consciousness.

Harri smiled, she figured that this was the best time to wake up. "Well, I'm awake right now," she said as she opened her eyes and slowly sat up.

She looked around the room and noticed that she was in the hospital wing, which wasn't all that surprising. Draco was standing next to her bed, the fourth year Ravenclaw was a mess. His usually tidy hair was askew, like he had been running his hand through it constantly and he looked worn out and tired. She could see him visibly relax as she got up.

Fred was next to George's bed with a hand on his shoulder, silently supporting his brother. Madam Pomfrey was giving her a flabbergasted look and sighed. Harri gave a sheepish smile.

"Ms. Potter, you should have spent all day with Mr. Weasley. You know that Veelas need to be near their bonded," she chastised halfheartedly, noticing the look of guilt on the young girl's face. Harri felt horrible enough for causing everyone trouble, especially George, who was still out cold on the bed next to her.

"Is George going to be alright?" she asked, extremely concerned for her mate. She tried to get off of the bed, but the nurse stopped her.

"You're magical core is drained. You need to rest," Madam Pomfrey told her sternly. Harri sighed and laid back down, figuring that fighting with the witch wasn't worth it.

"Harri, just listen to Madam Pomfrey and rest. I'm going to have Hermione come by and spend time with you later. She was hysterical when she saw you faint in the hallway. I literally had to get Wendi to force her to go to class. The only thing that calmed her down was that I would be here because I had a free period. Now, go to sleep," Draco told her soothingly. She nodded, suddenly very tired.

"Both of their cores are drained, I doubt they'll be waking up anytime soon. Go to class boys," Madam Pomfrey ordered as Harri closed her eyes.

Harri slept soundly for a few hours, only to be woken up by someone stirring next to her. She blinked a few times and realized that George was waking up.

"I feel like a Hippogriff stomped on me. What happened?" He asked as he sat up holding his head. His blue eyes drifted over to Harri, who was staring at him with an amused expression on her face.

"We didn't spend the day together to let the bond settle, so our magical cores went a little crazy. Everything is fine now. Sorry for causing you trouble," Harri replied watching his facial expressions carefully.

"It's no problem. You haven't even properly come into your inheritance yet. I doubt that these side effects even crossed your mind," he told her with a mischievous smile. "So, what are we doing for the rest of the day?"

"We have to spend the rest of the day together, to let the bond settle. I know it's going to kill you to be near me, but you'll just have to make due," Harri said with an over dramatic sigh, causing George to chuckle.

So, the two sat in the Hospital Wing together for the rest of the day, just enjoying each other's company.

The next couple of weeks passed quickly and Harri found herself extremely interested in Moody's lessons. He had them learning all they could about the Unforgivable Curses and he told them that he would teach them how to fight off the Imperious Curse.

It was a breezy Tuesday afternoon when Moody decided to teach them how to fight it.

Hermione was horrified with idea, as were many other students, since the curse was illegal, but Hermione was the only one with the courage to actually say something to Moody.

"Sir, you said that this curse was illegal...to use it on another human being..."

"Dumbledore wants you taught what it feels like," said Moody, his magical eye swiveling onto Hermione and fixing her with an eerie, unblinking stare. "If you'd rather learn the hard way, when someone's putting it on you so they can control you completely, fine by me. You're excused. Off you go."

Hermione sat back down frazzled. She didn't want to miss a lesson as important as this one. Harri wasn't exactly thrilled that he was going to be using an illegal curse on students either, but it was a good lesson to teach. They would need to know how to fight that horrible thing off if the spell was ever used on them.

Harri thought it was very amusing to see what Moody made her fellow Gryffinfors do under the Imperius Curse. Dean hopped around the room singing the national anthem. Lavender Brown imitated a squirrel. Neville performed a series of astonishing gymnastics tricks that he wouldn't have been able to do if he wasn't under the curse.

Much to Harri's disappointment no one was able to fight it off, that was, until Moody got to her.

"Potter," he growled, "you're next."

She moved forward quickly, not wanting to irritate him anymore than he already was. So, Harri moved to the middle of the room and waited for her professor to mess with her mind. He pointed his wand at her head and said, "Imperio!"

Harri felt very strange...happy almost, maybe it was closer to elation? She wasn't sure, but it felt nice and she didn't want it to stop. She wasn't aware of the class watching her anymore. Within a few second Moody was asking her to jump on a desk for him and at first she thought that sounded wonderful, but then she realized that it sounded odd. Why would she jump on a desk for someone? It was actually really stupid when she thought about it.

Then the voice told her to do it again...

'No, I don't think I will,' she replied mentally. She was not in the mood to play games with a voice in her head. She used the Occlumency that Remus had taught to her and cleared her mind. She built up her mental walls and voice dimmed away.

But, suddenly, the voice came back twice as strong. Harri barely had time to focus herself and she stumbled into the desk instead of jumping on it.

"Now, that's more like it!" growled Moody. Harri felt herself return to the classroom and realized that the whole class was watching her and she nearly blushed at their gazes.

"Look at that, you lot...Potter fought! She fought it and she nearly beat it! Good job, Potter! We'll try that again, Potter, and the rest of you, pay attention. Watch her eyes, that's where you see it...very good, Potter. They'll have a very hard time controlling you," Moody said praisingly. Harri gulped and waited for the next attack.

"Ugh, you'd think we're going to be attacked tomorrow with the way he talks," Harri moaned as she hobbled out of class. Moody had put her through her paces and made sure that she could fight the curse off completely before she stepped out of the classroom. Her knees were bruised from all the times she nearly jumped and fell forward. She was also pretty sure she sprained her wrist after one rather spectacular fall.

"He's just trying to prepare us, Harri. You never know when something bad is going to happen. I mean, no offense, but you don't have the best track record when it comes to avoiding dark wizards and spells," Hermione replied with a small smile. She hadn't thrown off the curse like Harri had, but she fought it, much to hers, and Moody's, delight.

"But did he really have to give us homework on top of everything we did in class today?" Wendi complained from behind them.

All the fourth years were seeing a definite increase in their workload. It seemed that the teachers were already preparing them for their O.W.L.s, especially McGonagall, who seemed to enjoy the groaning of students as she assigned a large workload.

"You are now entering a most important phase of your magical education!" she told them, her eyes glinting dangerously behind her square spectacles. "Your Ordinary Wizarding Levels are drawing closer —"

"We don't take O.W.L.s till our fifth year!" Dean shouted indignantly.

"Maybe not, Mr. Thomas, but believe me, you need all the preparation you can get. Ms. Potter and Ms. Granger all still the only students who can turn the hedgehog into a satisfactory pincushion," McGonagall countered with a glare. Dean shrunk down in his chair under her gaze. "I might remind you that your pincushion curls up in fright if you put a pin anywhere near it."

Hermione blushed from the praise she was getting, while Harri smiled. She didn't get praise that often in class. She liked to let Hermione get the credit, it seemed to lift her friend's self esteem.

Then there was Snape's class. He was giving just as much work as McGonagall, but he wasn't anywhere near as encouraging. He was having them researching antidotes and he was giving subtile hints that he was going to poison one of them, Harri had a sinking suspicion that it was going to be her, so she studied extra hard.

Even Hagrid was adding to their workload. He had them breeding Blast-Ended Skrewts and they weren't very friendly. They kept exploding on people...they were dangerous more than anything else and Harri didn't understand why they were even trying to keep them alive.

When Harri, Draco and Hermione arrived in the entrance hall, they found themselves unable to get in, due a large crowd reading a sign on the door. Harri could see the twins in front of the door and she pushed her way to the front to find out what they did to cause the block in the doorway.

She got to the front of the crowd and jumped at George who knocked down his brother, who crashed into Angelina, who landed on the floor. "So, what's with all the commotion?" she asked from the top of their little dog-pile.

"Look at the sign," Angelina hissed from under Fred. "Fred, if you don't get off me in two seconds you won't be able to reproduce."

They all scrambled up from on top of Angelina and Fred hid behind Harri and George when the chaser tried to punch him. Harri rolled her eyes when Fred made a mad dash for the Great Hall, with Angelina close behind him. "She fancies him," George said with a smirk. Harri laughed at the statement and she turned her eyes to the huge bulletin in front of her and read it quickly.

**TRI-WIZARD TOURNAMENT**

**THE DELEGATIONS FROM BEAUXBATONS AND DURMSTRANG WILL BE ARRIVING AT 6 O'CLOCK ON FRIDAY THE 30TH OF OCTOBER. LESSONS WILL END HALF AN HOUR EARLY –**

"Brilliant, Snape doesn't have time to poison me now!" Harri said jumping up and down in glee.

"He wasn't going to poison you. You're one of his best students," she heard Draco mutter from behind her.

She whipped her head around and glared at him, knowing that he was lying, kind of. She knew that Snape somewhat liked her as a student, but he also hated her at the same time. She figured that he would use a slow acting poison and watch her twitch around for a while before giving her an antidote if he did poison her. "Draco, he's your godfather and you're his best student. He'd poison his archenemy's daughter if I rubbed him the wrong way," she replied rolling her eyes good-naturedly. She turned her head back towards the poster to finish reading it.

**STUDENTS WILL RETURN THEIR BAGS AND BOOKS TO THEIR DORMITORIES AND ASSEMBLE IN FRONT OF THE CASTLE TO GREET OUR GUESTS BEFORE THE WELCOMING FEAST.**

"It's only a week away," George said dreamily, thinking of the winnings the tournament would do for his joke shop.

"Yea, too bad you won't be able to participate. I should probably tell Cedric about this..." Harri said offhandedly.

"Diggory? Why him?" George asked scathingly, his eyes narrowed in distain.

"He's actually seventeen and a bloody good wizard," Harri answered waving her hands around for emphasis.

"And I'm not a good wizard?" he questioned with his arms crossed. Harri knew she had stepped into dangerous territory and decided to tread carefully.

"George, you aren't old enough to join the competition. If you were, you'd most definitely get chosen, now calm down," Harri told him soothingly. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek, which did the trick. He turned to her with a goofy smile on his face that made Harri blush.

"No, not in public," she scolded lightly, not really stopping him from snaking his arm around her waist. She sighed, but didn't fight him.

Rumors about how the students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons were getting to the school as well as who would be picked as champion from each wizarding school were flying around. Even the teaches were tense. They could be seen fixing their rooms up and yelling at students to be on their best behavior. Filch was in an even darker mood than normal since he had to clean the entire castle. He managed to cause two first years to cry when he shouted at them for having mud on their shoes. All in all, it was a crazy week.

When they went down to breakfast on the morning of the thirteenth of October, they found out that the Great Hall had been changed over night. There were silk banners hanging over each house with their respective animal beautifully sewed on. Behind the teacher's table, the largest banner of all bore the Hogwarts coat of arms: Lion, Eagle, Badger and Snake united around a large letter H.

Harri, Hermione, Wendi and Neville sat next to and across from the twins at the Gryffindor table. Draco and Luna decided that with all the stress that the teachers were under it was a better idea to sit at their house table. They didn't want to press their luck than they did on a regular basis.

Fred and George were acting oddly, even for them. They were talking in hushed tones and looking rather depressed.

"It's a bummer, all right," George said gloomily to his brother. "But if he won't talk to us in person than we'll have to send the letter after all. Or we'll stuff it into his hand ourselves. He can't avoid us forever."

Harri put her hand on his shoulder in concern. "What going on? Who's not meeting with you?" she asked quietly. He shrugged her arm off and motioned for Fred to follow him out of the hall.

"It's nothing you need to worry about, Harri," Fred told her on his way out.

Harri sighed in irritation and grabbed a piece of toast. She hated being treated like she wasn't old enough to understand certain things.

"So, any ideas on the Tri-Wizard Tournament yet?" Harri asked Hermione who was in the middle of eating scrambled eggs.

"McGonagall hasn't really said much. She mostly yells at anyone who asks, but from what I've read the champions are judged on certain tasks by judges and awarded points. The heads of the participating schools are on the panel of judges as well, but they aren't the only ones. Though, I'm not entirely sure how the champions are chosen. There was't anything on it in Hogwarts, A History," she replied sourly, her lips pursed slightly. She hated when she couldn't find something in that book.

Harri chuckled at her friend's facial expression. "Come on, Hermione, finish eating. Classes are going to start soon," Harri told her as she nibbled on a piece of bacon.

No one was really concentrating on their classwork, not even Hermione. Everyone was waiting for the other students to arrive. Harri Wendi, and Hermione nearly ran out of potions when the bell rang early. They hurried back up to the tower, put on their cloaks and rushed back to the entrance hall where the Heads of Houses were ordering their students into lines.

"Weasley, straighten your hair! Miss Patil take that out of your hair!" McGonagall snapped, trying to get her students in order.

Parvarti reluctantly pulled a large ornamental butterfly out of her hair with a scowl on her face.

"Follow me, please," McGonagall said. "First years in front...no pushing..."

The weather was on the cold side, but the sky was clear, there wasn't a cloud in sight. Harri and the rest of the fourth years were in the fourth row waiting for something to happen. Luckily, the Ravenclaw House was right next to the Gryffindor House and Draco was standing next to Harri and Hermione.

"How do you think they're getting here?" Draco asked staring at the Great Lake. "By boat?"

There was a snort next to Hermione. Wendi was laughing next to Hermione. "Arriving by boat..." she chuckled wiping her eyes. Wendi was the only one laughing and Harri wondered if she knew something.

Hermione was just about to ask her why she was laughing when Dumbledore said something from the back row. "Ah, if I'm not mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches."

"There!" yelled sixth year, pointing up in the horizon right over the forest.

Something large was hurtling towards the castle. Harri squinted to try and figure out what it was. Someone thought that it was a dragon, but Harri didn't think that was right. As the object approached she realized that it was a huge horse drawn carriage! Each horse was about the size of an elephant, pulling a house sized carriage behind it.

The first three rows of students drew backwards as the carriage hurtled ever lower. The carriage hit the ground hard and fast, but it didn't crash or hit anyone. It seemed that it had a safe landing. A young man scrambled out of the vehicle and opened the door respectfully. Everyone from Hogwarts waited for something to happen. A woman stepped out, but it wasn't just any woman, she was as tall as Hagrid. Harri figured that she had to be half-giant. She had a very lovely face, with an olive skin tone, black eyes, hair that was pulled back in a classy knob at the back of her head. She was dressed from head to toe in black satin.

Dumbledore clapped and the rest of the student body followed his lead.

"Madame Maxime," he said. "Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Dumbly-dor," she replied in a deep voice. "I 'ope I find you well?"

"In excellent form, I thank you," said Dumbledore.

"My pupils," said Madame Maxime, waving one of her enormous hands carelessly behind her.

Harri, whose attention had been focused completely upon Madame Maxime, now noticed that about a dozen boys and girls, all, by the look of them, in their late teens, had emerged from the carriage and were now standing behind Madame Maxime. They were shivering, which was unsurprising, given that their robes seemed to be made of fine silk, and none of them were wearing cloaks. A few had wrapped scarves and shawls around their heads.

From what Harri could see, they were staring up at Hogwarts with apprehensive looks on their faces.

The two headmasters spoke for a short time. Madam Maxime wanted someone to take care of her horses properly and Hagrid was more than happy to volunteer.

It was quiet for a few minutes, but it was broken only by Madame Maxime's huge horses snorting and stamping.

"Can you hear something?" Draco asked suddenly. Harri listened intently. A loud and oddly eerie noise was drifting toward them from out of the darkness: a muffled rumbling and sucking sound, as though an immense vacuum cleaner were moving along a riverbed.

"The lake!" yelled Lee Jordan, pointing down at it. "Look at the lake!"

From their position at the top of the lawns overlooking the grounds, they had a clear view of the smooth black surface of the water, except that the surface was suddenly not smooth at all. Some disturbance was taking place deep in the center. Great bubbles were forming on the surface, waves were now washing over the muddy banks - and then, out in the very middle of the lake, a whirlpool appeared, as if a giant plug had just been pulled out of the lake's floor… What seemed to be a long, black pole began to rise slowly out of the heart of the whirlpool…and then Harri saw the rigging…

"It's a mast!" she said to Draco and Hermione.

Slowly, and magnificently, the ship rose out of the water, gleaming in the moonlight. It had a strangely skeletal look about it, as though it were a resurrected wreck, and the dim, misty lights shimmering at its portholes looked like ghostly eyes.

Finally, with a great sloshing noise, the ship emerged entirely, bobbing on the turbulent water, and began to glide toward the bank. A few moments later, they heard the splash of an anchor being thrown down in the shallows, and the thud of a plank being lowered onto the bank.

People were disembarking. They could see their silhouettes passing the lights in the ship's portholes. All of them, Harri noticed, seemed to be built along the lines of Crabbe and Goyle… but then, as they drew nearer, walking up the lawns into the light streaming from the entrance hall, she saw that their bulk was really due to the fact that they were wearing cloaks of some kind of shaggy, matted fur. But the man who was leading them up to the castle was wearing furs of a different sort: sleek and silver, like his hair.

"Dumbledore, how are you?" the man called as he walked up to the entrance hall.

"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff," Dumbledore replied. Karkaroff was tall and thin like Dumbledore, but his white hair was cut short and he had a goatee.

"Dear old Hogwarts," he said looking up at the castle. "How good to be back. Viktor, come along and into the warmth...you don't mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold..."

Harri heard Wendi laugh as Viktor passed with a slight flush on this cheeks that could have been taken as embarrassment or a cold.

"Karkaroff is still playing favorites...poor Viktor," Wendi commented as she watched her cousin walk into Hogwarts for the first time.

**I'm at college! Crazy right? It feels like it was just yesterday I was finishing my senior year at high school...Anyway, sorry that this is coming out a week late. I know that I promised you something last Tuesday, but I had a lot of packing to do and then I was moving into my dorm and then I had activities to do all week. But, I did get the chapter done. I'll probably start uploading on Tuesday nights? I'm not sure yet. I need to get used to my schedule first. My first day of classes are tomorrow, I'll need a week as a trial run. On top of that the workload is supposed to be killer. **

**Thank you guys so much for reviewing! It means a lot to me and I know that I say that all the time, but I really mean it! So, review goal? Just kidding, until I have a regular schedule I won't do that to you, it isn't right.**

**I did have a question about her patronus. It's a stag because it's kind of like her dad protecting her. It doesn't have anything to do with her personality, it's literally her father's spirit protecting her, or something along those lines. It's more symbolic than anything else. Her animegus form is going to be something different.**

**Someone else asked if I'd put Harriet into a coma after the third task...well it is a good idea, but I have a really good opening chapter already thought out for the fifth book. Here's a hint- Snape's in it. =3 Use your imaginations to try and figure out what I'm thinking.**

**I got an unsigned review from the first chapter telling me that I wasn't even trying to write an original story and then they made fun of Harriet's name. I was not amused by that lame attempt at a flame. It was about as scathing as a youtube comment. =P (If you know that quote you are awesome)**

**So, I hope that you all are well and there were a few correct guesses with the Veela thing. The next chapter should be about the Goblet of Fire. =) I hope I can start a fairly regular writing pattern. I'll try and start writing the chapter tomorrow. I finish classes at 1pm anyway. Then again, I might be exploring the campus because I need to figure out where my calculus class is (I have that on Wednesdays)...the building its in is a maze. Even the upper classmen get lost there. Wish me luck!**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter**


	35. Chapter 35

**This isn't the longest chapter that I've written, but I'm really busy with college work. =O Anyways, I'll see you at the bottom! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 35**

**Rare Magical Artifacts Get Tricked Too Easily**

People were whispering excitedly as Viktor went into the building. Harri felt extremely bad for the young quidditch player. She knew the feeling of being talked about when she was in the same room as the people whispering. Viktor didn't seem to have any luck with keeping a low profile, especially now that he was at Hogwarts, which was the gossip capital of the magical world.

Harri turned to look at Wendi, who was watching the scene in front of her with a scowl on her face. She knew that Wendi didn't like people gawking at her cousin. "Are you all dense? He's a wizard just like you. Now, move on!" she shouted angrily.

"You just want him all to yourself!" an older student yelled from the other side of the courtyard.

"He's my cousin! Are you lot daft?" she growled and everyone took a step back from her when they saw a few sparks come out of her wand warningly.

Harri put a hand on her friend's shoulder, successfully holding her back. She didn't want Wendi hurting anyone, not yet anyway. If they continued to act like that she might just let the Bulgarian girl cast spells at them.

"Honestly, you'd think they'd know that he was taken already, right, Hermione?" Harri said, nudging her blushing friend.

"We've kept it very quiet. Neither of us want any public attention..." she admitted shyly and both Harri and Wendi rolled their eyes.

The students moved back to the great hall in one big mass of people. They sat down at their respective tables and waited for the foreign schools to pick a house table.

The Beauxbaton students sat at the Ravenclaw table, while, much to the other houses displeasure, Durmstrang sat at the Slytherin table. It seemed that the Slytherin house had the most open seats, which wasn't all that surprising since it was the most selective house to get into. Alya looked particularly smug at the fact that Viktor was sitting at her table.

Harri rolled her eyes. If Alya knew that she had been friend's with Viktor for years the Slytherin girl might explode from jealously.

Dumbledore greeted the new students happily, "Good evening, welcome to Hogwarts. I hope that you will enjoy your stay here!"

One girl from the Beauxbaton group covered a laugh with her hand and Hermione narrowed her eyes at the girl's behavior. "She didn't have to come if she didn't want to," she muttered angrily.

Harri shrugged, she agreed that it was rude of her to act like that, but it wasn't like they could stop her from acting out. On top of that, Harri figured that the French girl must have been extremely homesick.

The feast began without a hitch. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the food immensely. There was a wide variety to choose from. There were a lot of French foods littering the tables, many that Hermione seemed to favor eating. Wendi on the other hand was eating the Bulgarian cuisine that appeared in front of her.

"What are you eating Wendi?" Fred asked when he saw her eating something he didn't recognize.

"Kebapche, you should try some. It's really good," she told him as she took another bite of the meat.

"Maybe next time," he replied shaking his head at the younger girl. He turned his head to Harri, who was in a deep conversation with his twin. He smiled, he was glad that George had found someone to confide in.

Fred was about to say something that would cause both Harri and his brother to blush and stutter, but he was interrupted by a French witch with waste length blonde hair and a dazzling smile.

"Excuse me, are you wanting ze bouillabaisse?" she asked and Fred only stared. Harrie sighed and pushed the dish towards the girl. Their hands connected for a split second and the two looked at each other. Harri felt like she had a connection with the girl, but she stepped back and retreated back to the Ravenclaw table without another glance.

"She's a part Veela," Harri said a few moments later and Hermione shook her head.

"What makes you say that?" Wendi asked wiping her mouth with her napkin and pushing her plate away from her.

"Well, all the boys are gawking at her, except George, and she's exceptionally beautiful. I also get this strange vibe from her, like we're family or something. I could be wrong, that's always an option, but I don't know...it just felt right," Harri answered rubbing her temples confused.

The rest of dinner passed uneventfully, until Dumbledore told Filch to fetch a casket? Everyone just watched completely puzzled by the statement and waited for something to happen.

Suddenly, a casket, that seemed to be made of old wood and covered in multicolored jewels, was brought in along with Ludo Bagman, who seemed happy to be there, and Bartemius Crouch, who looked like he would rather be anywhere than in a hall full of teenagers. He had a rather imposing glare and didn't get nearly as much applause as Bagman. They walked into the great hall and took their seats next to the Headmasters from the other schools.

"Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Tri-Wizard Tournament," Dumbledore said, "and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts."

At the word 'champions' everyone's heads shot up and they started to pay attention. Even the younger students who didn't have any hope of entering.

"As you know, three champions compete in the tournament," Dumbledore went on calmly, "one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Tri-Wizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."

Dumbledore tapped on the wooden casket three times and it opened by itself. The hall was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Something began to rise from it, slowly a cup with blue flames came into view. The cup itself was unremarkable, but Harri figured that there was something special about the fire inside of it. Dumbledore placed the cup on a pedestal and addressed the student body once more.

"To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation," Dumbledore said, "I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line. Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."

After being properly dismissed the group made their way back to Gryffindor Tower.

"An Age Line!" Fred said incredulously. "Does he have no imagination? We can get passed that without a problem! Right, George?"

George gave his brother a mischievous smile in return. "An Aging Potion should work just fine."

"You two are daft aren't you? Dumbledore drew that Age Line. Do you really think that you'll get passed it with such a dimwitted plan?" Hermione asked rubbing her temples.

"Of course they do. They are the Weasley twins. The best pranksters since the Marauders," Draco said from behind her, making everyone jump. No one had noticed him following them back to the Tower.

"Don't be a Debby-Downer," George said shortly. "Are you going to try to enter, Harri?"

George had put his arms around her shoulders as a sign of camaraderie, but she didn't feel like humoring him. He might be her mate, but he could still be very dense sometimes. Her eyes narrowed into slits and she turned to him, her green eyes almost glowing with anger. Her hair had turned a very dangerous shade of red and Hermione and Draco backed away slowly.

"Do you really think that I would enter a tournament that could possibly kill me? After everything that has happened in my life I don't think I would ever try to put myself in the spotlight if the chance ever occurred. George, I know that you and Fred want the prize money, but think of what you're getting yourself into if you do get picked. You could die!" she snapped in reply.

"So, you don't think that we could handle ourselves out there, then?" he asked hostilely.

"I doubt anyone from Hogwarts could properly handle what they're about to get into. Not many people have fought for their life before," she answered honestly. The more she thought about the competition the more she didn't like it. She had read about the death toll from the previous tournaments and it made her skin crawl. She couldn't imagine why someone would purposely risk their life for fame.

"You've fought for your life before..." Fred said quietly and their little group stopped walking, waiting with bated breath for Harri's answer. Her hair darkened back to its usual charcoal color.

"Yes, I have and know that it's horrible to do. I wouldn't want anyone to go through it, especially my mate and his brother. I wouldn't want you to lose each other." She whispered turning her head away form them. "I doubt that you'd be able to get-"

She was interrupted mid-sentence when she bumped into someone.

"Careful, Harri," said a rather rough masculine voice. She looked up and noticed that she had bumped into Viktor, who had an amused smile on his face. She noticed that the entire line of Durmstrang students had stopped to look at what was keeping them from moving. Harri moved out of the way quickly.

"Sorry about that! Have a good night," she told them motioning for them to continue onwards, that was until someone noticed the scar on her forehead.

"You're Harriet Potter!" One of the other boys shouted, causing everyone to turn their heads and look at her. She blushed, not liking all the attention focused on her. She noticed that Professor Karkaroff was staring at her bug-eyed. It wasn't a look that suited him at all. She noticed that his hand went to his left forearm and her eyes narrowed. Had he been a Death Eater during the first rise of Voldemort?

"You are Harriet Potter," Karkaroff said taking a step closer to her. She backed away not liking him in her personal space.

"Step away from the girl, Karkaroff," said a growling voice from behind her. She sighed in relief when the Headmaster of Durmstrang jumped away from her and stared in horror at Mad-Eye like he was the devil.

"You!" he shouted as all the color drained from his face, leaving him with a very waxy complexion.

"Me," said Moody grimly. "And unless you've got anything to say to Potter, Karkaroff, you might want to move. You're blocking the hallway."

Professor Karkaroff walked off without another word, his students following him reluctantly. Harri didn't like where this was going...

Halloween was on a Saturday and Harri didn't feel like going to watch people put their names in the Goblet of Fire. Instead, she was tutoring younger students in Transfiguration, much to McGonagall's delight.

The Transfiguration room was furnished the way it always was, desks that seated two people in rows of three. Harri was sitting on the desk in the center of the front row, skimming through her father's transfiguration book for good spells to teach the second years that were scheduled to come into the room in a few minutes. McGonagall was watching her young Gryffindor with pride filled eyes. She looked so much like her father, yet she acted some much like her mother.

"I'm glad that someone is taking their studies seriously and not focusing on the Tri-Wizard Tournament...or making Aging Potions and getting sent to the hospital wing," McGonagall muttered angrily as she flipped through papers on her desk.

"I'm guessing the twins are on your last nerve already...and it's not even November yet. It must be a new record," Harri commented as she got off the desk and wrote some basic spells on the board.

"No, your father and godfather still hold the title for getting on my nerves the fastest. They managed to get on my bad side before their sorting. Their brand of mischief was something I will never forget," she replied softly and Harri gave her sad smile.

"Sirius would be happy to hear that you speak so fondly of him and my dad," Harri said, trying to change the subject.

"If you ever tell him you'll be writing essays till your hands fall off, Miss Potter," McGonagall threatened halfheartedly. "Miss Potter, how are you feeling today? I know that Halloween is very painful for you..."

Harri sighed and tugged at her braid, another thing that reminded McGonagall of James Potter, who played with his hair whenever he was nervous. "I'm never particularly happy this day of the year and I like to focus on other things, like school work or Quidditch. I'm not going to the feast tonight. Neville asked me for help with Transfigurations, so I was thinking of helping him during the feast..." she answered timidly.

"Are you sure you don't want to be there when they choose the champions?" the Transfigurations Professor asked. She stopped looking at her papers for a moment, focusing on her student.

"I was thinking about it, but I don't really want to be the only gloomy person there..." she told her Professor as she finished writing the spell down.

"I think it will be a very nice distraction from the events in your past. You never know, this Halloween could surprise you," McGonagall said with an encouraging tone.

Harri sighed. She figured that this Halloween couldn't be worse than any other she's had in the past. "Sure, I'll go to the feast. I might as well see who gets picked," she said with resolve.

Before McGonagall could say anything further there was a light knocking on the door. "Come in!" Harri said just loud enough for the person on the other side to hear. When the door creaked open a small group of second year students filed in, staring at Harri in shock when they saw her scar.

"Alright, everyone sit down. It's time to start you extra lessons..." Harri said starting her tutoring session. The younger students listened with rapt attention. They didn't want to miss anything The-Girl-Who-Lived said.

Fred and George had apparently tried to enter the competition and failed. They had told Harri all about their daring endeavor when she got back form her afternoon tutoring session with some third year students.

Harri had laughed for about half an hour when they told her what happened after they crossed the Age Line. She was still chuckling as they entered the great hall for dinner. She decided to sit next to George since she hadn't had much contact with him during the day. Since she hadn't come into her full inheritance she didn't need to be by him constantly, but the ache to be near him was still there.

It was later that night when the Goblet was brought out in front of the whole school. The fire was burning brightly in the dimly lit room. Harri felt that the lighting was a bit of over kill, but she was having a good time.

When Dumbledore stood up from his seat and addressed the great hall, Harri knew that it was time for the champions to be picked.

"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," Dumbledore told the group of eager students. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber," he indicated the door behind the staff table, "where they will be receiving their first instructions."

Harri was counting down the seconds in her head, seeing if the headmaster's timing was off...

"Any second..." Lee whispered next to Fred, who was nearly jumping up and down in his seat in anticipation.

The flames inside the goblet turned suddenly red again. Sparks began to fly from it. The next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it - the whole room gasped.

Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm's length, so that he could read it by the light of the flames, which had turned back to blue-white.

"The champion for Durmstrang," he read, in a strong, clear voice, "will be Viktor Krum."

"No..." Wendi groaned, hitting her head on the table. It was obvious that she didn't want her cousin in the competition.

Harri saw Viktor rise from the Slytherin table and slouch up toward Dumbledore. He turned right, walked along the staff table, and disappeared through the door into the next chamber.

"Bravo, Viktor!" boomed Karkaroff, so loudly that everyone could hear him, even over all the applause. "Knew you had it in you!"

The clapping and chatting died down. Now everyone's attention was focused again on the goblet, which, seconds later, turned red once more. A second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"

"Well, at least I know her name now. I should be able to look up her heritage in one of the books Sirius gave me...then I'll know if she's a Veela for sure," Harri said happily, as the girl who so resembled a Veela got gracefully to her feet, shook back her sheet of silvery blonde hair, and swept up between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables.

"Oh look, they're all disappointed," Hermione said over the noise, nodding toward the remainder of the Beauxbatons party.

"Disappointed" was a bit of an understatement, Harri thought. Two of the girls who had not been selected had dissolved into tears and were sobbing with their heads on their arms.

"Drama queens..." Wendi muttered darkly. She was not in a good mood. Harri and Hermione shied away from the angered teen and waited for the Hogwarts Champion to be called.

And the Goblet of Fire turned red once more. Sparks showered out of it; the tongue of flame shot high into the air, and from its tip Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment.

"The Hogwarts champion," he called, "is Cedric Diggory!"

Harri and Hermione cheered loudly for Cedric, who deserved to get some recognition for his hard work. They knew that he was definitely going to be Head Boy next year.

Cedric walked into the back room with all the other champions. Harri realized that McGonagall was right, maybe this Halloween would be better than the last few.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily as at last the tumult died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real —"

But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to everybody what had distracted him.

The fire in the goblet had just turned red again. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment.

Automatically, it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a long hand and seized the parchment. He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore. Then Dumbledore cleared his throat and read out - "Harriet Potter."

**And so it begins...**

**Well, that's the end of that chapter. I hope you all liked it! I liked the part with McGonagall. I feel like she doesn't get enough love in the books. So, I'm super busy at college, but just for the record, my college looks like Hogwarts! I have a common room, house colors (mine's red) and everything! It's so awesome! I'm living in a castle and one of the rooms looks just like the Great Hall! So ****exciting! **

**The next chapter should be out next week...I hope. I don't have a paper due till the 25th, but that is all subject to change. I'm super busy this week. Okay, there will be a review goal this week as well, I need some motivation to write! My goal is 600. If you can make it I guarantee a chapter next week...if you don't well, then it can be late. =3 (Good luck)**

**If you have any questions you can put it in the reviews or PM me. I do answer them! I should be checking my account during the day tomorrow morning. My first class is at 9...**

**Thanks to all of you that reviewed and favorited! It means so much to me. I can tell that school is starting up again since I didn't get that many reviews on the last chapter. I hope you can get to the goal this week, I did set it rather high.**

**~Animerocker**

**PS  
I don't own Harry Potter...thought you guys should know, if it wasn't obvious enough.**


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